Remnants of the Past
by AbyssKeeper
Summary: Cocoon has been saved. The controller of fate has been defeated. An angel is made a guardian and sent back to Pulse. Direct sequel to Echoes of the Past. Read and Review.
1. Chapter 1

**The Title will make sense in later chapters . . . or now if you noticed my not-so-subtle reference in Echoes.**

**Cloud and Vince are going to be majorly OOC.**

Cloud and Lightning parted and each took a breath. Their gazes met and they both had a small blush creep onto their faces when they realized everyone was staring. The others started talking amongst themselves, about Cloud and Lightning. Serah wrapped her arms around Lightning again.

"So when's the wedding, Light?" Serah asked playfully earning her a nervous laugh. Snow walked over and started ruffling Cloud's hair.

"So, Spiky," Snow said with a smile as Cloud swatted his hand away "I guess one day I can call you bro."

Cloud decided he would imitate Lightning, just for laughs. He looked Snow in the face and gave him a glare that could kill.

"I will never be your brother," Cloud said in his soldier tone. Snow started slowly backing away out of feigned fear. Cloud went back to an expression of happiness "Let's just find a place to live first."

As the Highwind got closer the sound of the three jet engines made it impossible to hear at all. The engines got quiet as Cid slowed the airship and maneuvred it next to the group on the ground. The jet engines shut off as the ship came to a stop and the rotors started up to lower the ship.

* * *

"I thought there was a storm here a second ago," Nanaki said with a suspicious tone.

"Well there's no storm anymore so shut up," Cid said to the beast "Hey Gun! Go drop the ladder!" Cid shouted to Barret.

* * *

The ladder unrolled and hit the ground with a slight thud. Cloud grabbed the ladder and let Lightning go up first. The group proceeded up the ladder until it was just Snow, Serah and Vanille on the ground. Serah gave the ladder a look that said 'No chance in hell.'

"Umm . . . Ladders are not friendly right now," Serah said with extreme discomfort, indicating her skirt.

"I'll go up right behind you," Snow told the younger Farron, knowing her discomfort was from not wanting to be in front of or behind Vanille for obvious reasons. Snow was, quite literally, right behind Serah as they climbed up.

* * *

"What the fuck happened to you guys?" Cid said to Lightning and Cloud as they climbed onto the deck. They both remembered that their clothes were still soaked from the summoned storm. Lightning looked down and saw that her coat had a large bloodstain on it from her wound from Sephiroth.

"You wouldn't believe any of us," Cloud said to the middle aged pilot.

Cid looked at the others as they climbed onto the sky deck of the Highwind. When Dajh got on the deck Cid gave Cloud a questioning look. Cid's face went to annoyed when Serah got on the deck with Snow and Vanille behind her, in that order.

"Two things," Cid said to Cloud "One, no matter how many skirts you bring on board, I ain't changin the ladder out. Two, my ship ain't a fuckin kiddie ride and yet there seems to be a sudden increase in their goddamn number!" Cid yelled at the blond warrior indicating Serah and Dajh.

"Could you please use better language around the kids?" Sazh politely asked Cid.

"Fuck no," Cid replied with a hint of anger signalling his growing temper.

"Would it be that hard to figure out something other than a ladder?" Serah whispered to Snow. Cid, having superhuman hearing when it came to anything to do with the Highwind, heard the whispered question.

"Look I wouldn't get rid of the ladder even if it was the only thing that woulda made Sephiroth sane," Everyone who was in the summoned storm shuddered at the mention of THAT name. Snow quickly snapped out of it and went to defend his fiancé.

"Would it kill ya to find a way for a ramp or something?" Snow asked thinking he made a good suggestion. He saw Yuffie standing behind Cid, waving her hands horizontally, shaking her head and mouthing 'No.'

"I admire ya for wanting to defend pink junior," Cid said calmly "But I don't give a shit what she thinks about _MY_ ship cuz I ain't the one fuckin 'er," Cid continued earning him a death glare from Lightning. Cid waved off Lightning not caring what she thought about him.

"Cid!" Tifa shouted, trying to scold the pilot.

"Okay fine," Cid replied to Tifa in an obviously fake apologetic tone "I'll change out the ladder if pink junior and smiles start fuckin. Right here, right now." Almost everyone instantly pictured that event, but quickly forced it away. Vanille could not help blushing from embarrassment.

The former l'Cie could not believe that this was what the real Cid Highwind was like after Shinra. The most respected pilot in the world, at one time, did not respect **anyone** else.

The group fell silent and proceeded to the bridge. Cid walked over to the main controls and pushed two levers which caused the ship to start rising. He asked for a destination over his shoulder.

"Sector five," Cloud said calmly as Cid turned back to the controls. Cid pulled the two levers back to the rest position and pushed a different lever. After a long moment of nothing happening, Cid pushed the lever all the way forward. Everyone heard a muffled explosion as the Highwind lurched forward and almost knocked everyone off their feet.

"One of you _l'Cie_ people is a fuck load of bad luck," Cid said over his shoulder "Not one problem with this thing. Then you fuckers show up! And the ship starts getting every fucking problem imaginable!" He walked over to the diagnostic terminal as he muttered to himself.

"He doesn't mean any of that," Tifa said reassuringly to the former l'Cie "The ship's old and he's touchy about it."

"Fucking wonderful!" Cid shouted as he slammed his fist against the terminal "The turbine on the right side is fucking toast. I guess you guys are walking."

"Well see ya around flyboy," Fang said with a chuckle as she started moving towards the door. Vincent followed her off the bridge with the others following suit soon after.

"Keeping Barret and Nanaki?" Cloud asked the unstable pilot who nodded at the question "We will send some one to help if we meet anyone," Cid nodded to confirm he heard the blond.

Cloud notified the large man and the beast as he walked past them and began to descend the rope ladder. He lost himself in thought as he climbed down the thirty foot ladder. Vincent and Fang had kept Holy from destroying Cocoon and killing every person on it, he and Lightning had actually defeated Sephiroth, and now they were all free to have a semi-normal life.

**Six Days Later**

The group had come across a squad of Guardian Corps troops, which had surprised Lightning by having Amodar commanding it, two days after leaving the Highwind. The group had asked Amodar to take the squad to assist Cid, after Amodar and the squad had shut up about meeting the leader of Avalanche.

The following four days were largely uneventful other than Lightning punching Snow in the face for hurting Serah. Snow had rolled on top of Serah in his sleep, but quickly woke up after Serah pinched him.

As they came upon the ancient gate to Midar, Sector Five, they were met with a beautiful sight. The crystallized spell had arched over the gate and formed a dome-like top where the upper plate used to be. The ground was covered in small white and yellow flowers and grass.

Cloud took in the sight and had one thought cross his mind. _These are Aeriths flowers._

The group of ten walked through the field of crystal pillars, underneath a crystal dome, underneath Cocoon. The former l'Cie had no idea where they were headed but were content in taking in the surrounding crystal and ruins of the once great Midgar, and following Cloud.

They walked onto the front steps of a stone building with large wooden doors that were in oddly good condition. The former l'Cie saw the building was an ancient church with a huge hole in the roof and upper wall on one side.

"What is this place?" Vanille asked when she saw that Cloud's hand had stopped half way to the handle.

"Aerith's church," Tifa answered for Cloud. Cloud moved his hand onto the door and gave it a push. The door swung open with a small groan and the hinges sending out a small squeak.

Everyone let out a gasp as they were met with the sight of a woman. The woman was kneeling in a bed of flowers at the front of the church, facing the group. Her fingers laced together in a symbol of prayer, her head was bowed and her eyes were closed. She had brown hair with the same unnatural bangs as Sephiroth, a pink dress, a red denim mini-jacket, and a chain on her left wrist with a black orb on it.

The woman opened her eyes and looked at the group. They all simply stared at the bright green eyes that had nothing but kindness in them.

"Is . . . Is this . . . Real?" Cloud said aloud voicing the thought that the other Avalanche members had.

**The sequel has been started! Sorry it took so long. I've been having focus issues lately.**

**Sorry about errors, Microsoft word hates me, it doesn't tell me if there are missing words. **

**Care to guess what the orb was? It should be obvious if you have played FF7.**

**REVIEW to make me update faster.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer (Should have put this in the first chapter):** I do NOT own any thing in this story. Except the plot, but even then, it is just a modified Squenix plot.

* * *

Aerith stood up and ran over to Cloud. She wrapped her arms around him for a tight hug and planted a small kiss on his left cheek. Aerith had trapped Cloud's arms at his sides, they both knew Cloud's superhuman strength could break Aerith's grip but he was too stunned to.

Aerith let go and repeated the process for each present member of Avalanche. Tifa and Yuffie returned the hugs and Vincent merely moved his arms away from his sides so they would not be trapped.

As she stepped away everyone recovered from the shock their gazes instantly went to her wrist where the small black orb hung from a chain. Everyone knew there was only one object that could be completely devoid of light and still glow.

"Aerith . . . How are you . . . Alive?" Cloud asked still completely dumbfounded "And why do you have . . . That?"

"To answer both question's," Aerith said, her angelic voice soothing everyone immediately "Gran Pulse wanted the Black Materia to have a guardian and it trusted me to not let anyone use it."

"A guardian against what?" Fang asked the Cetra.

"We don't need to worry about anything like that anymore. Sephiroth is in the life stream and can no longer hurt anybody." Aerith was the only person who could speak the name of the living nightmare with a hint of pity. Cloud was curious as to how that was possible, mainly because Sephiroth had _killed_ her.

As Aerith spoke the calming words to the group Lightning developed a very minor dislike for the Cetra. Aerith had the perfect figure, voice, and hair, and Lightning disliked that about the woman.

Lightning was instantly curious about why those thoughts had just come up, she could not remember ever thinking like that since she became a soldier. Tifa was right when she said everyone was different around Aerith.

"By the way, the planet will make sure people can still live on Cocoon," Everyone nodded at Aerith's statement but only understood the last part. Aerith turned to Snow and met his gaze "I think Serah would like to get married as soon as possible."

Aerith ushered everyone out of the very old church and stayed at the back of the group with Tifa. The martial artist loved having Aerith around, the wild spirited woman made sure there was never a dull moment and she was the perfect person to talk to. Tifa needed to talk to someone, she had a secret that was starting to become too much to handle.

"Aerith," Tifa whispered to the flower girl "I'm in love . . ." Aerith raised one eyebrow to show that she was interested ". . . With Cloud," Aerith had a look that said 'anything new?' and knew that Tifa hated when she did that.

"What makes you say that?" Aerith asked fully knowing what Tifa meant but thought it would be better for Tifa to talk it out.

"I mean, when I'm near him my heart starts beating fast, my mouth and throat go dry, and my stomach gets butterflies," Tifa had a very uncomfortable tone "I try to think of him as my brother but a part of me always reminds me that we are in no way related. It's been this way since Cloud recovered from the Mako poisoning."

"Tifa," Aerith said in a comforting tone "If he really is your one true love, don't let anyone or anything stand in your way."

"But he doesn't feel the same way about me," Tifa said sadly.

"How do you know?" Aerith asked worried about how far she should be pushing this subject.

"After we, well, Cloud and _her_, defeated . . . No, _killed_ Sephiroth, they made out. Right in front of all of us!" Tifa said with murderous rage very obvious in her voice. Aerith was instantly worried about Lightning's safety.

The group walked out of the crystallized ruins of Midgar and were greeted by Barret, Red, and Cid with a cigarette, and Amodar. Amodar informed them that they had brought a transport for the group and the Highwind had been towed to the Bodhum base to be repaired.

**One Hour Later, Guardian Corps Transport**

"So," Snow said to break the silence "Back to civilian life?"

"I guess so," Cloud said quietly knowing that without any large-scale threats, life was going to get boring quite quickly. He turned to Amodar as an idea popped up "Any chance I could look at the Corps inventory for a new sword?"

"For a hero of the Sephiroth crisis?" Amodar said with obvious surprise "I guess I'll look the other way. But just this once." They both chuckled lightly at the small joke.

Lightning, who was sitting with the former l'Cie across from Avalanche, smiled lightly at the blond soldier before he glanced over at Aerith for an instant. She looked at all the Avalanche members and noticed they all would throw a glance at the small black orb with fear in their eyes. The schoolbooks had said it was what Sephiroth had used to call Meteor, call Cocoon.

"Why?" Amodar replied "Why do you want a new sword, that is."

"Well the Buster Sword is starting to hit its limit. So I'm gonna leave it with . . . one of my friends and see if I can learn to use something new."

"Well, Farron will have to take you to the armory. I trust she doesn't have any issues with that," Lightning only shook her head in response.

Vanille sat quietly and listened to the two men speak and tried to read the others. She admitted to herself long ago that she was horrible at reading deeper emotions, though she could tell when someone was hiding something. As her gaze travelled to Tifa, Vanille saw the martial artist look at Cloud then look away quickly.

_Is she in love with him?_ Vanille thought as she tried her best to see into Tifa's mind.

"Where will you all stay?" Serah asked, wanting to offer her and Lightnings house to Avalanche.

"Most likely on my ship," Cid said between puffs on his cigarette "Unless you guys made arrangements while I wasn't around."

"Me and Serah have an extra room," Lightning said in a semi-friendly tone "And a pull out bed. So we have space for a couple of people," Lightning felt a piercing gaze on her and saw that Vincent was the one looking at her. She did not doubt that Vincent had noticed her subliminal message to Cloud but hoped that the others had missed it.

**Another Hour Later, Bodhum Guardian Corps Base**

The transport lightly drifted downwards until the landing gear touched down on the concrete landing zone. As the entire group, and Amodar, got off the small ship they were met with the sight of the Highwind's right turbine engine being repaired. Cid started walking towards his airship immediately. Cloud took the Buster Sword off his back and handed it to Vincent, who could hold it as easy as Cloud.

"Put it somewhere where it won't be damaged," Cloud said to the gunslinger as he let go of the handle.

"I have yet to see it get scratched," Vincent said absently as he began heading to the Highwind. He swung the sword onto his shoulder as if it were a stick.

Vincent had barely gone three steps when he heard Cid calling for Cloud. He turned and informed Cloud that Cid wanted to see him. Vincent handed off the Buster Sword back to Cloud as the blond ran by.

Tifa's eyes went wide as she just remembered something important to her.

"What's the date?" Tifa asked Amodar quickly.

"August thirteenth, if I'm correct. Why?" The response he got was Tifa taking off in a sprint towards the airship.

Lightning did some mental calculations and realized it had been roughly a month and a half since the Purge, one month and thirteen days since her birthday. Lightning was curious as to why the date seemed so important to Tifa and decided that she would find out soon enough without asking.

"What is it Cid?" Cloud asked in a polite tone as he caught up to the pilot.

"Happy belated Birthday," Cid said quietly as he handed a small metallic object to Cloud. Cloud looked at it and noticed it looked exactly like his earring, but four times the size.

"Thanks, Cid," Cloud said, a little surprised "Wait, let me guess. If I tell anyone about this, I'm going to be walking everywhere?" Cid laughing confirmed that Cloud had guessed correctly.

"Cloud, go up to the ship," Tifa said when she got to them "I have something to give you," She saw Cid give her a suspicious look and a smirk "No, nothing like that you perv." Tifa said as she gave Cid a playful shove.

Cid climbed up the rope ladder first with Cloud behind him and Tifa last. Cid walked to the far side railing and started to look at the ocean side city of Bodhum. Tifa and Cloud went inside the ship and towards the former conference room.

He and Tifa had managed to convince Cid to convert the conference room into a bunkroom but it was not an easy task. Seeing as how Cid Highwind is a near immovable object when it comes to changing _his_ airship, the two warriors had to jump through thousands of hoops.

"Close your eyes," Tifa said in commanding tone. Cloud gave a shrug and did as she said "I bought part of it and made some of it, so if it doesn't fit just let me know. Open."

Cloud opened his eyes and looked at what Tifa was holding. It was a black outfit that was similar to his SOLDIER uniform but had several major differences. Cloud did not know what to say to Tifa, so he just let his eyes speak.

"You don't have to say anything," Tifa said cheerfully "And I worked on it for most of the time you were suffering from Mako poisoning, if that's what you're thinking. Well I'll go back outside, so put it on and let everyone see it at the same time."

"Tifa, could you look after the Buster Sword for me, at least, until we all find places to live?" Cloud asked with a small hint of disdain for himself. _It's better than letting it rust in the middle of nowhere._ He thought, basically trying to convince Zack to forgive him for trading up his sword. Tifa gave a small nod and handed the outfit to Cloud.

He grabbed the clothes from Tifa and waited until the door closed to change into the 'new' clothes.

**

* * *

Any guesses at Cloud's new outfit/costume?**

**Sorry this chapter took a long while to appear but I found out that it is hard to write when I don't have any guidelines to work with.**

**Please leave a review.**


	3. Chapter 3

Lightning watched as Cid, Cloud and Tifa climbed up the rope ladder and go inside the ship. A few minutes slipped by before Cid came back down and she started to wonder where the other two were.

"Well, Farron," Amodar said loudly to get her attention "You can take mister Strife to the armory, right?" Lightning nodded in response "Maybe a sparring match after Strife gets what he's looking for?"

"Maybe," Lightning said with a smirk, remembering the first time she and Cloud met. She decided that she would not mind duelling Cloud again because she would not defend his signature overhead swing and he would not be injured this time.

Amodar started walking to the base and Lightning looked back to the Highwind and saw Tifa descending the rope ladder and Cloud standing on the deck. When Tifa was about halfway down Cloud hopped over the railing and plummeted feet first. He rolled when he hit the ground and was on his feet in an instant, revealing his new outfit **(**Advent Children costume**)**.

"That boy just _loves_ dramatic entrances," Cid commented to the group, getting a laugh from most of them.

"Wow," Aerith and Lightning muttered under their breath "Aren't you handsome in that," Aerith said with admiration.

"So I guess you guys like the new look," Cloud said while motioning to his clothes "I take it you're gonna take me to the armory," He continued to Lightning.

"Y-Yeah," Lightning said still staring at Cloud with more than simple attraction in her mind. She turned and started towards the base with a small blush in her cheeks.

Cloud jogged up behind her and the others of the group started walking towards the city. When he was directly behind Lightning he threw a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure no one was looking.

When Lightning felt an arm wrap around her waist her soldier instinct told her to attack. Luckily, for Cloud, she was able to overpower the instinct. She turned to face Cloud and gave a small smile, which she had only shown Serah before that.

"I guess we shouldn't do any thing like this in there. Right?" Cloud asked with a smile.

"I have a reputation that I'd like to keep," Lightning replied with a smile "So yeah, you're right."

As they walked through the hallways of the Guardian Corps base soldiers would greet Lightning in the standard military fashion. The other soldiers would also do a double take at Cloud, because he looked like someone from a certain textbook.

In the armory, Cloud was looking at shelf after shelf and could not find anything that suited him. All the swords were as large as, or smaller than, Lightning's gun-blade, which was beginning to make Cloud very angry.

"Seems like swords, that I'm used to, stayed on Pulse," Cloud said in a half joking tone. Lightning could hear the anger in his voice and was curious as to why he was so mad.

Cloud had always been stoic, at least, the whole time Sephiroth had been alive. As soon as they killed Sephiroth, Cloud felt _every_ emotion flood his mind at once. Those emotions had yet to calm down. He knew Sephiroth could intrude his mind but Cloud never even thought that Sephiroth could subdue his emotions. But now that he considered that option, how Sephiroth made him a puppet, made sense.

Lightning looked over at the 'grave corner,' the corner of the room where forgotten/old or faulty weapons went to remind the smiths that there was scrap for them. She noticed a sword that was unusually thin for its hilt, but it had the same blade and handle length as the Buster Sword. It was point down on the floor and Lightning discovered it was very light for its size by lifting it. _Oh yeah, this is newer than the Buster Sword, it has AMP tech making it lighter_ she thought. Lightning looked carefully at the handle and saw a small button directly below the hilt. She pushed it and the thin blade popped open, making it twice as wide.

A small inscription in the center area, which was hidden, said _Fusion Blade Ver. III_. Her eyes went wide at the fact that this sword had to be more than a decade old. The last fusion blade model was the version IX and that was also the first gun-blade. Granted, the version IX was a gun and a sword that could be combined on the fly, but her gun-blade was a version V gun-blade, a gun that collapsed into a short range rifle and vice-versa.

As Lightning reviewed the random history lesson on military weapons she pushed the button again, the blade snapped shut and she determined three things about the sword. First, the sword was practically calling for Cloud. Second, fate had decided that this would be his new sword and that was the only reason why it had been collecting dust for ten years. Third, she would tell Cloud that the spring mechanism would be a bitch to fix _if_ it broke.

"Cloud, how's this?" Lightning asked tossing the large, light sword to the blond without waiting for him to look. Cloud caught it easily and examined it closely before speaking.

"Wow, is the only thing I have to say," He said as he was adjusting his hands on the handle, trying to get used to the light sword. Cloud's right eyebrow rose, indicating interest, as he pushed the button and the blade popped open.

"It's an old fusion sword. It can hold five other swords, of your choice mind you," Lightning explained which only got her a nod from the boy who just got a new toy "I'll have to modify the five so they're compatible with that old version."

"Any five other swords of my choice?" Lightning nodded. Cloud already had chosen five swords that he liked but left them on the shelves because he would prefer to use something larger than them. He grabbed them and put them on a work bench that Lightning pointed out. Lightning grabbed the tool set from the drawer of the work bench and began modifying the swords.

"Strong, fast, smart, a weapon smith, and very beautiful," Cloud praised, making Lightning blush "All I have going for me is the Mako enhancement," Cloud heard Lightning chuckle at the joke.

After what felt like several hours, to Cloud, Lightning finished modifying the five swords. She gave Cloud a quick tutorial on how to activate the manadrive in the swords to make them fuse together. Cloud tried it a few times and fused the five smaller swords onto the large sword. The blade of the fusion sword was wider and longer than the Buster Sword by a few inches, but the large sword did not weigh as much as the Buster Sword. **(**Advent Children sword**)**

"Would you be up to a sparring session?" Lightning asked Cloud, for Amodar.

"How else would I get acquainted with this one?" Cloud questioned back while putting the fusion sword on his back.

"How would you feel about having an audience?"

"How do _you_ feel about that?"

"I don't care for the thought," Lightning stated honestly "But there is probably at least a hundred soldiers out there waiting to see you fight."

"Well, let's not keep them waiting."

Amodar was waiting for them outside the armory and asked Cloud if he would display his skills for the troops. Cloud accepted and Amodar led him and Lightning to the exterior training area. Lightning was correct with guessing that there would be at least one hundred, there seemed to be the entire Bodhum regiment present.

"Troops!" Amodar bellowed to get the attention of all the soldiers present "First off, sergeant Farron is back from her extended leave. Second, this young man," Amodar motioned at Cloud "Is Cloud Strife, the one who killed Sephiroth," The soldiers started talking amongst themselves "The hero we all owe our lives to."

"Actually Aerith is the true hero," Cloud muttered under his breath.

"Mister Strife has agreed to spar with someone. Any volunteers?" Amodar scanned the troops and saw no one wanting to volunteer.

"Sir," Lightning said loudly "I volunteer," Lightning was just going with Amodar's ruse. All the soldiers seemed surprised that Lightning was 'volunteering' to duel Cloud.

The soldiers formed a ring around Cloud and Lightning by standing almost shoulder to shoulder so they all could see the fight. The two drew their weapons and set into their battle stances. Amodar, and most of the soldiers, were wondering where Cloud got the sword but decided to wait until after to ask.

Lightning charged at Cloud but dropped into a roll as Cloud did a horizontal slash. Lightning performed a vertical slash but Cloud jumped backwards away from the attack. Cloud lunged forward and performed his signature move Braver. Lightning sidestepped the attack but was knocked off balance by the ground splitting from Cloud's attack. Lightning saw Cloud swing at her again but was only able to block the attack. She heard several soldiers make comments as she was launched across the sparing area.

After several minutes of rapid slashing and dodging, Cloud separated one of the two notched swords from the blade. He dropped the large sword and continued with the smaller sword. Being able to match Lightning's speed, with average effort, the duel became harder to follow.

The exhibition match ended with Lightning emerging victorious. She had gotten behind Cloud and had her sword at his throat. She was holding both ends of the sword and resting her arms on his shoulders. The soldiers had given a round of applause after Cloud dropped the notched sword and held his hands up in the sign of surrender.

"That's twice I've beaten you," Lightning whispered to Cloud.

"Well I was taught to never harm a woman," Cloud whispered back.

"Are saying you let me win?" Lightning asked in a whisper as she released Cloud.

"We both know I would win if I wanted to kill you," Cloud whispered in a deadly serious tone.

"Simply amazing Farron," Amodar said loudly "But to be honest, I was expecting more from mister Strife."

"Miss Farron had the advantage of speed, sir," Cloud replied "There is only one person I know of, and fought, that could match and best that speed. But you all know that story."

"I don't recognize that weapon," Amodar said in a tone that was more questioning than stating.

"It's a version three, fusion blade with five modded swords, sir," Lightning explained as Cloud picked up both swords and recombined them.

"Version three?" Amodar almost shouted from surprise "It's amazing that there was even a piece of one in the armory."

"Seems fate had a plan for the sword," Cloud said calmly as he put the sword on his back.

"Sir, May I be excused for the day?" Lightning asked in the soldier tone "My sister wants to speak with me about her wedding."

"How about I just give you an assignment?" Amodar replied "Of showing mister Strife around Bodhum."

"Sir?"

"Unless you would rather be here tomorrow training new recruits."

"I'll stay with showing mister Strife around, sir," Lightning said with a hint of gratitude. She _HATED_ training new recruits because they always made sexist comments when they thought she could not hear them.

"How long do you think until all of Cocoon knows it was your group that saved them from corrupted fal'Cie?" Cloud asked Lightning after the soldiers had restarted their exercises.

"I'll bet a month," Lightning replied.

"How long until they find out you went out with me?"

"We haven't-" Lightning stopped herself as she realized Clouds clever way of asking her out.

"Want to go out tonight? If you have time," Cloud said with a smile.

"I'd like that," Lightning felt butterflies in her stomach at the thought of her first date in years.

Cloud was hit with the butterflies as well because his last date was with Aerith at the Gold Saucer when they got the keystone.

**I am so sorry I took so long for this chapter. I was having writers block and getting a PSP and Dissidia didn't help.**

**I have like a thousand different ideas for this story both humour and serious. If you want this story to have a humorous side-story let me know.**

**Please leave a review.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I got the five votes against the T/V pairing and have rewrote the part in chapter two. You should go read that before reading this chapter.**

As Cloud and Lightning walked out of the base they could not help but notice that the Highwind had disappeared. The only reason for it being gone was Cid had moved it because it was fixed.

Cloud and Lightning walked though the streets of Bodhum and tried to ignore all the looks people were giving Cloud. Cloud was used to getting looks because of his clothes, sword, or spiky hair. Lightning was surprised at how many people had returned or moved to Bodhum so soon after the Purge.

"So what's your house like?" Cloud asked to break the silence and hopefully learn something about it before they got there.

"It's a fairly large house on the beachfront and it has a nice view," Lightning said with very little attached emotion.

"And you bought it?" Lightning nodded "When? Why? And how much was it?"

"It cost a small fortune but Serah used to bug me all the time to let her go to the beach. We moved into it a few months before the Purge and that is when she met _him_," Lightning said almost hissing the last word.

"I thought you were okay with Snow now."

"Being a soldier teaches you how to mask your real feelings," Lightning said coldly "I don't like him because he is such a moron and he doesn't even have a real job. All he does is 'hang-out' with his group which is titled NORA," Lightning almost did not notice Cloud stop, cross his arms and raise an eyebrow. She turned to face him and saw he had a thoughtful look on his face.

"You don't like a blond haired, blue eyed guy because he has no job and he hangs out with his group of friends called NORA. Correct?" Lightning nodded "I'm a blue eyed blond haired guy, with no job, and I hang out with my group of friends that is called Avalanche," Lightning instantly saw the irony of the situation she was in.

"You're not thick headed though," Lightning pointed out.

"Cid, Barret and Yuffie will argue that," Cloud said with a smile "Wait, you own an expensive beach house that overlooks the sea? How much does the Guardian Corps pay you?"

"Enough to make the down payment on a beach house after five years," Lightning said with an offhanded tone "I also sold the property my parents left to me and Serah. I couldn't afford the property taxes and Serah's education."

"So basically, you are fairly rich and own an expensive beach house," Lightning nodded.

"What are you saying?"

"It's just a little backwards because usually the guy has and uses his money and beach house to seduce women."

"I think Serah once watched a show like that," Lightning while trying to remember the name of show but only drew a blank "Anyways, we better get back. Serah won't let me forget it if I'm late," Cloud nodded and they continued on their way.

The warriors guessed it to be about five o'clock when the beach was within view. When they arrived at the beach they both cursed under their breath when they saw what was tied to the dock. The Highwind was gently and quietly hovering above the waves with the rope ladder ending on the wooden dock.

"Well so much for a low profile," Lightning muttered.

"I'll talk to Cid about where he should park his ship," Cloud said to Lightning.

They walked down the beach to the back door of the Farron house and climbed the stairs to the deck. When they opened the door they saw that everyone was in the house. The former l'Cie, NORA, and Avalanche were all talking and getting to know each other.

"Oh look," Serah shouted "They're back!" Cloud and Lightning both rolled their eyes as they were made the center of attention. Everyone went back to what they doing shortly after. Cloud dropped his sword beside the door and was approached by Cid.

"How's the storm doin?" Cid, who was right beside the door, asked.

"Storm?" Both Cloud and Lightning asked.

"Clouds, thunder, and lightning. The materials needed for a storm," Cid said, inventing a name for the duo "Cloud, Lightning and Cloud makes the thunder with the sword."

"Cid, are you drunk?" Cloud asked flatly.

"Gettin there," Cid answered sounding proud of himself as he grabbed a flask out of his coat pocket and walked away.

They saw Sazh talking to Dajh and assumed Sazh was trying to keep Dajh from telling people about the 'man with one wing.' The two soldiers split up after Serah called for Lightning and Barret called, more like ordered, Cloud over to join a card game with him, Snow and Gadot.

Lightning went into the dining room, where Serah was, and was greeted by the excited giggles of Vanille, Serah, and Aerith. She saw Tifa and Lebreau in the kitchen talking but could not hear what was being said because of the guys in the other room.

Serah handed a list of names to Lightning when she sat down at the table. It was the intended guest list for Serah and Snow's wedding. It had all the names of Avalanche, the former l'Cie, and NORA. Lightning was feeling mischievous for a reason unknown to her, though she assumed it had something to do with Aerith being less than five feet away.

Lightning grabbed the pen that Serah was holding and began to cross off names. After crossing off four names she looked at what Serah wrote at the top of the page _Serah & Snow's wedding guests_. Lightning crossed out Snow and handed the paper back to Serah. Serah gave her sister a very un-amused look before restarting her conversation with Vanille.

"So, Lightning," Aerith said in her sweet voice "I hear that you and Cloud are together now."

"Well I guess you could say that," Lightning said indifferently but her cheeks betrayed her with a blush.

"Well for your own sake, keep all the romantic stuff in private for a while," Aerith said quietly so Lightning had to lean closer to hear the woman.

"What do you mean, for my sake?" Lightning asked genuinely curious about what Aerith meant.

"Tifa is deeply in love with Cloud," Aerith explained hating herself for betraying her friends secret. But it was so Lightning would remain in one piece if she ever found herself alone with Tifa "And needs time to accept the fact that Cloud chose you."

"But she looked fine after we all fought . . . _him_," Lightning said with a hint of confusion.

"Tifa told me that she was ready to rip you in half and beat the . . . out of Cloud when he kissed you," Aerith explained.

"Shouldn't you tell Cloud, to keep it in his pants, in public then?" Lightning asked, stunned that she had actually just used that phrase.

"He's to shy to do any of that stuff if there is anyone, other than you, watching him," Aerith replied with a smile "And yes, I am aware that people act differently around me. Even I wish I knew why."

"What the frick is that!" Everyone turned at the sound of Barret yelling at the top of his lungs and keeping his language clean because of Dajh "This is why we stopped letting you and Vince play!"

"Serah," Lightning said to get her sister's attention "Are you sure you want to get married now?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Serah responded "And yes, Snow, Gadot, Maqui, and Lebreau have to be there," Lightning rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in false disappointment "When do you want to go dress shopping?"

"For you, anytime I'm free," Lightning replied to Serah's question "For me, never."

"Why?"

"Because I'll wear my dress uniform," Lightning said without facing Serah. As that statement created an argument between the Farron sisters, Aerith got up to go find Cloud.

In the other room she saw Yuffie, Hope, and Sazh playing with Dajh, Vincent and Fang talking in a corner, most of the NORA group playing a card game with Barret, Nanaki resting by the front door, and Cloud talking to Cid by the back door. Aerith went over to Cloud, shooed Cid away, and explained the situation with Tifa and gave him the same advice she gave Lightning.

**Three Hours Later**

Lightning looked at the clock and saw the time was 8:23 pm. She decided that now was a good time to make an excuse to get away.

"Serah, I have to go," Lightning told her sister before standing "Amodar wants me on the evening shift today," Serah did not ask any questions because she was used to Lightning having the night/evening shift.

Lightning walked through the other room and went out the front door. Cloud had made his way over to and was talking to Vincent when he saw Lightning go out the front door. Cloud was about to make an excuse to get away but Vincent spoke first.

"Just go," Vincent said in his emotionless way "I'll tell the others you took a walk. If they ask,"

"Thanks Vince," Cloud replied and went out the back door to avoid suspicion from the others, excluding Vincent and most likely Fang.

Lightning and Cloud met up in front of the dock the Highwind sat above. They walked to a restaurant that was a short walk away from the beach. The two warriors had deal with several people doing the 'Hey aren't you . . .' routine.

Back at the Farron house, Tifa had noticed that Lightning was gone and wanted to talk to Cloud. Tifa saw that Cloud's new sword was leaning against the wall by the back door but could not find the blond. She knew Vincent would know where Cloud was, so she went to ask the gunslinger.

"Hey, Vince," Tifa said with smile before finishing her drink "Have you seen Cloud?"

"He went for a walk into town," Vincent replied flatly.

"When was that?" Tifa asked with her smile disappearing.

"I believe about twenty minutes ago."

"What about Lightning?" Tifa asked with a hint of anger.

"I think she left a few minutes before Cloud," Vincent was actually surprised and confused when the empty glass in Tifa's gloved hand shattered from being squeezed.

**Good thing I had a Plan B in the event of the T/V pairing being vetoed. I was actually expecting the pairing to be vetoed.**

**Sorry if this chapter seems rushed. I am kind of in a hurry to get to the climax of the story but that might even be 10-12 chapters away, if I continue with 5 page average length. (My guess is a VERY rough estimation if I use minimal time-skips)**

**Don't forget to review.**


	5. Chapter 5

It was nearly one in the morning as Lightning and Cloud walked down the street to the beach. They walked in silence just enjoying the company the other provided. When they got to the beach the only sound was the waves gently lapping the shore and only the silhouette of the Highwind blocked the moon.

They turned and began walking to the Farron house before noticing the silhouette of someone on the beach. As they got closer they identified the signature tattered cape and realized it was Vincent. Cloud greeted his friend when the gunslinger took notice of them and Lightning's gaze shot to the spear and blue cloth lying at his feet.

"Stalking Fang?" Lightning asked Vincent using the joke that floated around Avalanche.

"She asked me to watch her stuff while she took a swim," Vincent answered calmly without facing her.

"How long have you been seeing her?" Cloud asked making Lightning think twice about the situation.

"What gave me away?" Vincent questioned back.

"You watching the water, knowing she's in there," Cloud pointed out "You said that you would never betray Lucrecia."

"Good to know that you have learned from me Cloud," Vincent said with a smirk "But to answer your question, since Oerba."

"Well, its best we be going now," Cloud said to Vincent before he and Lightning continued "I'm happy for him," Cloud thought aloud when they were a fair distance away.

"But why did it have to be Fang?" Lightning asked the air "I mean, now it's a pair of omniscient people," When she got a confused look from Cloud she explained further "Each of them already knew everything as soon as it happened, and if Fang rubs off on Vincent they will gloat about."

"And if Fang picks up the way Vincent is, they will keep the information to themselves unless someone asks," Cloud pointed out.

When they arrived at Lightning's house they gave each other a goodbye kiss and Lightning went inside. Cloud grabbed his sword(s) from the spot beside the door before letting Lightning close the door and engage the lock.

Cloud walked back along the beach while thinking about some of the things Lightning, Claire, told him. The first being Cloud could call her Claire, unless others were around. The other was Claire's suggestion at getting a job with the Guardian Corps.

Cloud was heavily considering it and became lost in his thoughts. He was so wrapped in his thoughts that he did not notice Vincent and Fang sitting on the beach and accidentally ignored their greeting.

"Okay, I'll do it," Cloud said to himself at the ladder of the Highwind "Maybe I can convince whoever hands out shifts to make my hours the same as Claire's."

**One Month and Fifteen Days Later, Bodhum, Farron Residence**

Everyone, except Hope because he was home with his father in Palumpolum, was gathered together for the last parts of the preparation for Serah and Snows wedding. The guys had just settled with playing several different card games until they were called. Everyone hated playing those games with Vincent and Cloud because they were impossible to read and Vincent was an expert on reading people. They had effectively kept both of them from joining the games.

Lightning and Serah had spent a large amount of time arguing over what Lightning would wear. Serah had said a dress and Lightning was saying her formal uniform. They, as in Aerith, Vanille, and Serah, had already decided that Lightning would look best in a basic-blue dress. The only issue was getting Lightning to wear one.

"Come on Light," Aerith said with mock pleading "You're gonna be Serah's maid of honour. And besides you'll look great in a blue dress," Snow started to take a drink from his glass of water "If it makes you feel better, Cloud looked great," Snow started choking on the water.

The room went silent as a sealed tomb as everyone turned to the blond warrior. Every person had a different thought on their mind about what could have made Cloud Strife don a dress. Aerith looked around the room and covered her mouth.

"You haven't told them, have you?" Aerith said in an apologetic tone. Cloud just shook his head slowly.

"Didn't know you were that kind of person," Fang said with a mischievous smile.

"There is a lot more to the story," Vincent said flatly "At least, I'm hoping there is," Vincent said flatly again but with a smirk.

Cloud let out a sigh and began to recount the events that took place in sector six of the Midgar slums. He started with how he met Aerith, the escape from the Turks, and his failed attempt at sneaking away to sector seven in the night. Cloud continued with seeing Tifa in a cart headed towards Don Corneo's mansion, why he had to cross-dress, and how he had to buy time for Aerith and Tifa to grab the Buster Sword from out side the mansion. The silence returned as he finished the story, carefully leaving out the part about Corneo attempting to 'take advantage' of him.

"So you were just being a hero?" Snow asked completely stunned by the story "But why did you-" Snow shut his mouth when he saw Cloud slowly reaching towards the Fusion Sword.

"That didn't make me feel any better," Lightning commented to Aerith "But I guess I will wear a dress. For Serah's sake." Fang, who had been standing beside Lightning, leaned down to whisper something into her ear.

"If you don't like wearing it," Fang muttered into Lightning's ear "Just imagine Hero taking it off of you." Lightning's face turned red in an instant.

Fang burst out laughing because she knew the soldier was thinking about that. Vincent strolled over and grabbed the Oerban around the waist with his right arm. Fang feigned surprise at the action and 'attempted' to break free, but settled with leaning against the gunslinger.

"You two will be there right?" Snow asked as Serah started talking to Lightning again. Both Fang and Vincent gave a why-wouldn't-I look "At the very least then, Vincent, get a new cape."

Vincent just made an 'mmhmm' sound before Fang let out a small gasp. Vincent had just grazed Fang's left thigh with the claw on his left index finger. Fang turned around in Vincent's arm and captured his lips in a kiss. She was glad she forced the gunslinger to keep the capes collar open. Vincent moved his hands to her hips, but only his left hand stopped. His right hand slipped down to her thigh and into her sari.

Barret snapped his fingers several times before speaking "Hey, hey, hey! No one wants to see that!" Vincent sent the large dark skinned man a dark glare, which only Vincent and Fang could do, over the huntress' shoulder. The two raven haired warriors parted, but remained in each others embrace.

"I liked it better when he was anti-social," Yuffie said with a small amount, but very obvious, disgust "And quiet, and scary, and not trying to get laid in public."

"Yuffie!" Aerith scolded, being the omniscient mother figure.

"Well she's not wrong," Both Vincent and Fang said quietly to each other.

Cloud sat in silence and humiliation for nearly an hour before something occurred to him. Tifa did not speak up at all to defend him; then again, he had barely even seen Tifa the past several weeks. Tifa usually hung off him in the same way Vanille hung off Fang, but Tifa seemed oblivious to his very existence right now. He knew she disliked him for having a relationship with Lightning instead of her and she seemed to be hating him more and more because of that. Cloud then decided he would go talk to the martial artist, at the café/bar she worked at, later.

* * *

Tifa had begun working for Lebreau and soon worked alongside the woman. Tifa suggested they change the name of the beachside café/bar from 'Beachside Café and Bar' to something more classy, like 'Seventh Heaven' as an example. Lebreau said she liked the ring of Seventh Heaven and changed the name of the café/bar to 7th Heaven. Barret almost died from laughter when he heard about that.

* * *

The night of final plans ended with the reconfirmation of the wedding being a week away and Lightning politely telling everyone to go home, except Snow. Lightning practically threw him out the door behind the others because he would not let go of Serah.

Snow, Fang and Vanille, Tifa and Yuffie and Aerith, Barret, Sazh and Dajh, and Cloud had returned to their apartments. Cid had gone back to the Highwind, Nanaki went with Barret and Vincent had gone into the night, as usual. Yuffie was convinced that he was going to find some poor helpless person and drink their blood, which always received a laugh from the others.

**The Next Day, Tuesday**

It was the beginning of Cloud's first day as a Guardian Corps soldier. He secretly hated himself for telling Amodar to treat him like any other recruit, which resulted in Cloud having to go through basic training like all the other recruits. Undoubtedly, he had far surpassed the other recruits but still had to go through all the training because he asked for no special treatment.

Cloud's internal clock began ring and he sat up quickly to prevent himself from going back to sleep. He got out of his bed and went to the bathroom of his small apartment. After the part of the morning routine that required use of the bathroom, Cloud slipped into the uniform, put on the SCMPEM* and put on the Guardian Corps jacket last. He looked at his reflection in the full body mirror, which was built into the wall.

The uniform consisted of military boots with steel shin-guards, brown pants, a rather tight brown shirt, and a white coat that was the same as Lightning's but there was no belt around the middle and it was a lot less form-fitting. Cloud simply hated the uniform right away. He put on his gloves, unzipped the jacket, put on the SOLDIER belt, and re zipped the jacket. Cloud instantly felt better that the leather-covered flexi-steel belt was, once again, protecting his middle.

He walked out of the bedroom, quickly picking up the core sword of his Fusion Blade and put it on his back. Cloud knew he would not need the other five swords and left them leaning against his bedroom wall. He left his apartment, locked the door behind him and began walking towards the base.

* * *

*SCMPEM – Super-Compact Materia-Powered Electro-Magnet. I thought it was the only 'reasonable' explanation for how Cloud kept the sword on his back. It appeared in 'Echoes' early in the story.

**I am so sorry about how long it took me to post this chapter and sorry about its length. My mind had come to a brick wall and I had to bash my way through with a spoon.**

**I also started another story because it was an idea that WOULD NOT GO AWAY! But I might keep that story unposted for a while . . . until I finish the first chapter. **

**All I will say about it is it's another 7/13 story and the three worlds (Pulse, Cocoon, Gaia) are one. If you want a preview, send me a message about why I should let you see it.**

**Even though I'm back in school (Grad year! Yay!) I should still be able to update quickly because I only have one class that gives homework.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the wait, but this should be the last time I take so long.**

**By the way, FF7 crew in AC costume's now.**

When Cloud arrived at the base he was sent to the courtyard and issued the pauldron with the symbol for private on it. He fastened the pauldron onto his left shoulder as he walked through the doors to the courtyard and joined the group of new recruits.

Cloud saw five of the eleven non-descript recruits he went through basic training with and six sergeants, obvious from the symbol on their pauldrons, including Lightning. Lieutenant Amodar was also present, both he and Lightning gave Cloud a 'look' for being late. Amodar began making a speech about matching up the new recruits with sergeants according to their common skill sets.

Cloud was only half listening to Amodar's speech, but started paying full attention when the names were being listed. Cloud and Lightning were not surprised in the slightest when Cloud was paired with Lightning. They both suspected that Amodar had 'sensed' the thing between them but also thought that they done a good job of hiding it.

Two hours into the shift Cloud began to think about Tifa and convinced Lightning to go by 7th Heaven with him. When they arrived at the café they saw that NORA, Serah, the former l'Cie except Hope and Avalanche were occupying the outside tables. There was the sweet smell of Tifa's cooking and a beautiful piano tune in the air. The music made Cloud think of Aerith for a reason he could not even dream of determining.

"Hey, Spiky!" Barret called.

"Barret," Cloud replied with a nod as all the others noticed the two soldiers "Tifa here?"

"Who d'ya think is playin' the music?" Cid asked the blond, his voice heavy with sarcasm. Cloud shook his head and went inside.

Cloud walked up to Tifa after she stopped playing and resumed her work. He tried getting her attention but the brunette women completely ignored him. Cloud followed Tifa around the café trying to get her to even acknowledge him but decided to try something new when she was not holding anything that could be used as a lethal projectile.

"Tifa, I know you dislike me only because I'm with Light, but please stop acting like a child," Tifa spun around to face the blond and had a death glare in her eyes. Aerith had just walked out of the bathroom and Cloud made a mental note of the white with blue detail summer dress she was wearing. **(**Crisis Core costume**)**

"I'm acting childish!" Avalanche, NORA and the former l'Cie rushed inside when Tifa shouted "I have every right to be like this!"

"What do you mean?" Cloud asked calmly, trying not feel scared in the fire of the martial artists glare.

"I've always loved you and you knew that! But you chose a girl that you barely knew!" Tifa shouted hysterically "I have always been there for you!" Cloud's expression turned very dark at that statement.

"You actually expect me to believe that?" The blond nearly growled surprising everyone "I may be missing several memories but I clearly remember the day _YOU_ made _ME_ an outcast." Tifa instantly lost her anger and it was replaced with distress.

"What?" She half whimpered.

"You don't remember? I guess it wasn't important enough to you."

"Cloud, what are you talking about?" Tifa asked as tears began to fill her eyes.

"You and your friends went into the mountains even though _everyone_ knew they were extremely dangerous. You fell, got hurt and fell unconscious. Your friends just ran back to the town and I saw you weren't with them so I went to go see what happened. I fell in the same place, hit my head and passed out. I was blamed for what happened to you and you sided with your friends _against _me."

"Cloud, I . . ."

"They beat me every day after that, if I couldn't get away fast enough. It was that event, that act of betrayal that made me go to Midgar. You sided with those bastards instead of telling the truth."

"I didn't think it was a big deal," Tifa said quietly before falling into a chair and letting the built up tears escape.

"I knew you had a crush on me then and had one for you," Cloud's tone had softened greatly "But on that day, the crush was replaced with hatred, which has gone away. That memory though, is what makes you only my friend and nothing more," With that said Cloud turned away from Tifa and exited the café.

No one could believe that Cloud had just made Tifa cry. The two people Avalanche looked to for inspiration and a reason to keep going had just turned on each other. It was also the first time Cloud had even turned a dark expression on a friend of his. Vincent knew that what Cloud had said was the reason there was pain in his eyes when he faced the martial artist.

Lightning left the café after Aerith went to comfort the sobbing woman. She saw that al the others had no idea what to do or even think of what to say about what just happened. Lightning quickly found and ran up to Cloud, because he had stopped relatively close to the café.

"Cloud?" Lightning said just loud enough for him to hear.

"What I said has to sink in," Cloud stated without facing Lightning "I will apologize to her tomorrow."

Cloud and Lightning continued their shift in silence. When they reported in at the base Amodar asked what Cloud was brooding over but received a scowl from the blond warrior. Lightning had told the lieutenant that it was a private matter and Cloud wanted to correct it himself.

**The Next Day**

Lightning woke up and for the first time in a long time felt very happy about not having to go to work because she had no shifts on this Saturday and her week off for Serah's wedding had begun. Her mood dropped to miserable when she remembered that Serah's wedding was in four days and today was Serah's bridal shower and Snow's bachelor party, not that it mattered.

The guest list for the shower was her, all of Serah's girl friends, Vanille, Fang, Aerith, Tifa, and Yuffie. Lightning was sure that Serah only invited the members of Avalanche because she wanted to befriend them; Fang was most likely coming so she could keep an eye on Vanille and Lightning sane.

After Lightning was washed and dressed in something nice she went downstairs toward the smell of Serah's cooking. When she rounded the corner into the kitchen she saw Serah cooking breakfast and Fang, Vanille, Aerith and Yuffie sitting at the table.

"For a soldier you sure do sleep in a lot," Fang said with a smirk when she saw Lightning. Lightning just rolled her eyes as a response.

"What're the guys up to today?" Lightning asked the group at the table.

"Nothing in particular," A deep voice said from right behind Lightning. She jumped so slightly that it would be impossible for normal people to notice.

"Do you enjoy sneaking up on people?" Lightning asked the gunslinger as he moved past her to sit at the table.

"I find it rather amusing," Vincent said flatly with a hint of a smirk on his face "But to answer the question you're thinking, Cloud is not going to Snow's party this evening." Lightning let out a breath of relief as she sat in one of the two empty chairs at the table.

"Where is Cloud?" Lightning asked hoping he was going to talk to Tifa.

"He said he was going to talk to Tifa," Aerith answered calmly "Oh, Serah? When is your party starting?"

"After breakfast," Serah replied in a cheerful voice.

"Well I guess I should leave then," Vincent said as he pecked Fang's cheek and stood up to leave.

**

* * *

At 7****th**** Heaven**

Cloud stood outside the café for five minutes getting ready to defend any part of his body from anything ranging from Tifa's fist to a table. He deeply regretted saying those harsh words to the only person that truly understood him but it was a necessary thing to do. He hoped that his only real childhood friend would forgive him and continue to help him when it was needed. After gathering his courage he stepped towards the door and pushed it open.

"We're clo-Oh hey," Lebreau said when Cloud walked in "She's in the kitchen."

"Thanks," Cloud replied to the owner. _Great, a room filled with several sharp and hot things_ he thought as walked to the kitchen door. He saw the martial artist as soon as he opened the door.

"Tifa," Cloud almost whispered, unintentionally, to get her attention "I'm sorry for what I said yesterday."

"And I'm sorry for being such a bitch," Tifa said almost laughing, which greatly confused Cloud "I know that had to be one of the worst things you had to go through, but lets put that behind us and keep our friendship strong," Tifa stepped in front of Cloud and wrapped her arms around him "I should have been happy that you had been able to move on, unlike myself."

"So you're okay with this?" Cloud asked pulling himself out of Tifa's arms.

"No, but if you're happy then I'm happy," Tifa giggled slightly at Cloud's look of minor confusion "Think of it like this, Lightning is to me, as Snow is to her," They both laughed at that statement "Well, Serah invited me to her bridal shower and it would be rude to be late."

"Thanks . . . for not hitting me," Cloud said with a look of relief. Tifa laughed again as they both exited the kitchen and the café.

**That was not an easy chapter for me to write. Yes I changed up the back story a bit to suit my story.**

**My excuse for taking so long to update is I lost my motivation. But it is back and I am writing again.**

**Please review to keep me motivated.**

**By the way for those of you who were for the Tifa/Vanille pairing I will write an alternate version of this story with that pairing and my other ideas, which conflict with the ideas in this story, when I finish this one.**


	7. Chapter 7

**This chapter was delayed because I got a new computer and I was learning how to use it.**

Lightning openly admitted that she hated Serah's bridal shower. Her hatred started at about noon, when Serah told her friends that she was seeing Cloud. Lightning had defended herself by saying that she only worked with him, but that proved as useful as trying to teach Snow quantum physics. When Serah's friends, Fang, and Yuffie refused to shut up about Cloud and her, she got up to leave.

When Lightning opened the front door she came face to face with Tifa. Lightning instantly thought about defending her face but pushed the thought aside which required a large amount of mental effort. When Tifa smiled and politely greeted her, Lightning breathed a sigh of relief. She was glad that Cloud was able to patch things up with Tifa.

"I thought you would be here earlier," Lightning stated to the martial artist.

"Cloud took me out for a late breakfast," Tifa replied before her eyes went wide when she thought about what that might mean to Lightning "I hope that's okay. There's nothing wrong with that, right?" Lightning knew that the group of girls in the living room heard that and it confirmed what Serah had said.

"There is nothing wrong with that," Lightning said to calm Tifa "You are Cloud's childhood friend, you have every right to see him."

"Thanks Light," Tifa said with a small smile and a nod "May I ask why your leaving?"

"Because they won't shut up about me and Cloud," Lightning answered in an annoyed tone.

"Did you have a boyfriend before Cloud?"

"No, but I don't see how that has anything to do with them being annoying."

"Well what their doing is a playful way of congratulating you. Our group has been doing the same thing to Cloud," Tifa stated "Come on, you've been through worse. I guarantee that you can live through this."

"I know I'll live. I'm not sure about the others though," Lightning joked making both of them chuckle before they entered the house.

**Seven Hours Later, Out Front of 7****th**** Heaven**

"Aren't you guys coming?" Gadot asked the male members of Avalanche.

"I will not take part in the act of drunken debauchery," Vincent flatly stated to the man with the Mohawk.

"No thanks," Cloud politely declined.

"Why not Cloud? Would it give you flash backs to when you worked for the Don?" Cid teased.

"I told you to shut up about that!" Cloud yelled at the pilot giving the members of NORA the completely wrong idea "It's also not even close to what you think," Cloud noted to the members of NORA.

"What about you Cid?" Snow asked the pilot.

"Sorry, I have to teach some newbies how to fly at night in an hour," Cid explained.

"No, I don't even like the thought of those places," Barret told the members of NORA.

"Thanks for the offer though," Vincent added for the others. With that said Snow, Gadot, and Yuj left for Snow's bachelor party.

"Four days until the wedding," Cloud muttered off offhandedly.

"You're only going because of Lightning. Aren't ya?" Cid teased.

"Yeah. And?"

"Huh," Cid sighed after a long moment of silence "I thought I could mess with ya somehow."

"It's funny to think about Vince in a suit," Barret laughed.

"Why is that? I was a Turk once," Vincent said in a confused tone.

**Four Days Later, Bodhum Church of the Fal'Cie**

Lightning examined her reflection in the mirror. Her dress was a bright shade of blue that matched her eyes, according to her sister and Aerith. The dress fell half way down her calf's and stopped where her complicated looking open toed high heels started. There were two things Lightning hated about the dress, one being she hated how well it showed off her body and breasts, and the other was how there was only a small zipper on the dress that ran from between her shoulder blades to her waist.

"I know you hate it," Lightning saw Serah's reflection enter the mirror and noticed that she was not in her white dress yet. "But it's only for a few hours," Lightning turned to face her younger sister "Come on its time for your make-up," Lightning growled at that thought as Serah grabbed her arm and started to pull the elder Farron.

"Serah, wait," Lightning said as she pulled her arm free of her sisters grasp "Are you sure that you really want this?"

"Light, you have been asking that since I started dating Snow," Serah stated in a flat tone "Yes, I REALLY want this."

"There is still time to reconsider," Lightning said in a tone similar to pleading, which surprised Serah.

"How is it YOU are getting cold feet on MY wedding?" Serah laughed "Or are you just afraid of having Snow as a brother-in-law?"

"Just the thought of being related to Snow gives me chills," Lightning muttered which made Serah laugh before she started to pull Lightning towards the back of the room to get her make-up done.

Outside the church NORA and Avalanche was waiting for their last few members to arrive. NORA was waiting for Yuj, the blue haired man who was always with the newest fashion craze, and Avalanche was waiting for Vincent and Fang because the two had been inseparable since they formed their relationship. When the gunslinger and the huntress arrived no one could believe what they saw.

Vincent was in a regular tuxedo with black gloves, dress shoes and Cerberus on his right thigh. He had also managed to tame his wild hair and had loosely tied it back. The common thought among the two groups was _He looks even more scary now_. Fang, on the other hand, was wearing a low cut red dress that fell to her ankles and had a slit up to her upper thigh on the left side, and her sandals. Cloud made a mental note that Fang's dress was the same bright crimson as Vincent's cape and the dress was similar to the one that Scarlet, the head of Shinra's weapon department wore.

"Damn!" Cid exclaimed not trying in the slightest to hide the fact that he was checking her out "I must say Vince, you made a good choice," Vincent smirked at the pilots comment. Everyone turned when they heard steps in quick succession, which indicated someone running, and saw Yuj running towards them.

"I'm not late am I?" The blue haired man panted.

"No, we still got a couple of minutes," Gadot replied "Hey, Snow. Ya sure you want this dude?"

"Yes I'm sure," Snow replied to the man "Why wouldn't I be sure?" Gadot shrugged in response to Snow's question.

"I believe that it almost time for the ceremony," Vincent said to no one on purpose. Everyone who had a watch checked it and made a comment about Vincent's guess before turning to go inside. That was the last of the conversation as everyone went inside for the ceremony.

A few minutes after everyone found their seats Snow, Gadot, and Yuj were at the front of the aisle, in that order. Cloud quickly looked at what the former l'Cie, except Lightning and Fang, Tifa, Aerith and Yuffie were wearing. Sazh, Hope, and Hope's father, were wearing generic black suits; Vanille, Tifa, Aerith, and Yuffie wearing very fancy and expensive looking dresses.

When a soft piano melody started the murmur of the several conversations silenced and everyone turned to look at the back of the church. Serah's best friend, Kyla, was the first to proceed down the aisle. She was wearing a bright blue dress that barely showed off any part of her.

Lightning was the next to walk down the aisle. She could feel all of the lustful gazes on her. She forced her soldier instincts to take over and began walking down the aisle. Her gaze quickly swept back and forth across all the faces in the crowd but stopped when she met Cloud's gaze. Lightning felt her mouth slide in to a small smile and her cheeks grow warm with a blush. She hoped that her blush was not visible through her make up. When Lightning reached her spot, across from Gadot, the music changed which made everyone look back towards the back again.

Serah walked out from the side and a few gasps at how beautiful she looked could be heard. Everyone thought that Serah was absolutely stunning in the pearl white lacy dress. Serah and Snow had large smiles on their faces as Serah walked up the aisle. When Serah reached the end of the aisle and stood between Lightning and Snow the ceremony began.

Cloud was mostly zoned out throughout the ceremony, thinking about how good Lightning looked with her hair styled and going down her back. As he marveled at the beauty of the pink haired woman standing at the front **(**not Serah**)** his mind slowly drifted back to reality. He heard the minister say 'Til death do you part?' and his mind instantly brought up a memory he did not want to see.

_The rain and the thunder had ceased and the clouds were beginning to let rays of light through. A dust-like smoke started rising from Sephiroth as he dropped his sword. The Masamune disappeared before it hit the ground._

_"No one chooses their fate," Lightning growled at Sephiroth._

_"But outside forces can determine it," Cloud added, also as a growl._

_Sephiroth started laughing as his wing disintegrated into the black smoke. He shook his head before turning and walking over to Cloud. Sephiroth stood in front of the blond, looked down at him and made a statement that made Cloud's blood run cold._

_"Death did not stop me before. Why should that change?"_

Cloud shook off the memory with an extreme amount of confusion about why he just had that flashback. The sound of clapping and cheering brought him back to reality and he looked to the head of the aisle where Serah and Snow stood kissing, confirming the end of the ceremony.

**Sorry about this chapter being short. This was VERY hard for me to write because my mind refuses to put a bridge between last chapter and the climax of the story.**

**Sorry about the wait, but hopefully I will be able to update more regularly now that I am getting back into my groove.**

**Don't forget to REVIEW.**

**By the way I have posted a new story but beware of the content it will have.**


	8. Chapter 8

**This is still an M rated story, but not as much as I had intended at first. M rating is now because of excessive swearing, sexual references, and other things.**

At the reception the Avalanche and former l'Cie groups converged to catch up on what has been happening. They had claimed a table and half of another, the other half of the table was being used by the NORA group, minus one. Soon after the groups joined Lightning had walked over to join them, and get away from Snow.

"So how is school going, Hope?" Yuffie asked the platinum haired boy.

"I'm supposed to research and write about something from, well, your time," Hope replied to the ninja.

"Were you given something or did you choose?" Cloud asked the boy.

"I chose," Hope replied to the blond "I chose to write about Sephiroth," The statement earned him a few surprised looks from the two groups.

"Why would you write about _him_?" Yuffie asked calmly.

"Well he was a hero, once upon a time," Aerith answered for Hope.

"On a different note," Cid interrupted, changing the subject "Who wants to go to Pulse with me?"

"What?" Lightning asked the pilot.

"I'm heading an _expedition_ to the _foreign_ land," Cid explained to the group "So who wants to come and see whats left of our sorry world?"

"We're going," Vincent answered for both him and Fang.

"I think all of us, except Snow, Serah, Sazh and Hope are going," Cloud said in his SOLDIER tone. He saw the looks of confusion on the faces of Sazh and Hope, and nearly laughed before explaining "Sazh, you need to take care of Dajh and Hope, you are still in school."

"I'm sure I can get my dad to let me go with you guys!" Hope stated loudly to Cloud.

"Hope, stay in school so you can have a better life than the rest of us," Cloud replied without thinking. The strange looks from the others told him he made a mistake "Let me rephrase that. Stay in school so you don't become a soldier."

"Kid," Cid began to add "I guarantee that only two of our group sleep soundly. And I'm not one of them."

"Anyways," Vincent said to change the subject back to the original topic "I take it you're coming to us for additional information on Sephiroth?" Hope nodded in response.

"To be honest Hope," Tifa started to say "I'm pretty sure we all know next to nothing about him. He is the most . . . most . . ."

"Enigmatic person in history," Vincent finished for her.

"Sorry Hope," Cloud said quietly to the boy.

"It's okay. Two of my friends are writing about the Shinra and you guys," Hope said trying to keep the moment from going quiet.

"Well that should be fun for them," Barret commented.

"You should tell your friend not to forget about me," Yuffie started to say. All of Avalanche knew what was coming next "Master Ninja, world explorer, and materia thief extraordinaire, Yuffie Kisaragi!"

As Yuffie went on her egotistical campaign to Hope, Cloud completely shut her out and had just noticed that Lightning had left a little while ago. He looked around and saw that she was with Serah and Snow getting pictures taken.

Cloud was having trouble not starring at Lightning. He admitted to himself that she was beautiful in every way to him. When the wedding party started walking over to their table Cloud could not stop watching Lightning's shapely body that was being shown off by her tight dress.

Several minutes after everyone was seated, Gadot stood and tapped his glass so he could give his speech. Gadot's speech was filled with stories of the past and good humoured jokes that made everyone laugh a bit. He finished his speech with a toast to Snow and Serah's happiness which earned him a round of applause. Lightning stood up and the crowd fell silent to hear her speech.

Lightning's speech was very solemn and meaningful. She had a few subtle jokes in the speech about Snow being a bone head. Near the end of the speech a single tear rolled down her left cheek and Serah looked close to tears as well. The tears were brought forward by Lightning talking about how happy their parents would be. When Lightning finished her speech she also toasted to Serah and Snow's happiness and everyone had applauded her speech.

Lightning leaned down and told Serah that she had to excuse herself for a while. Cloud watched Lightning walk out of the hall and decided to follow her. Cloud found Lightning standing outside in the shadow of a tree. He walked up to her and heard that she was crying.

"Claire?" Cloud asked to get her attention "What's wrong?" Lightning turned to him as she wiped some tears away.

"Oh, nothing," She replied calmly "I always get like this when I think about my parents," Her voice was threatening to break again. Cloud stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her.

"Try not to think about what has been lost, think about what you have and what you can possibly gain in the near future," Cloud said to Lightning. He did not want to sound cruel in any way, but it sounded more harsh than he intended.

"Thank you for that," Lightning said to Cloud, still in his arms "That is very helpful."

"I just quoted someone, but it is a nice thing to remember,"

"Who said it?" Cloud chuckled slightly at the question.

"Sephiroth, after the war with Wutai," Cloud said quietly to Lightning. Lightning chuckled quietly at the fact that Cloud was quoting his nemesis.

They both went back into the hall and back to their tables. After several minutes of everyone talking, eating and drinking, music began to play. Snow and Serah stood, walked into the open area and started their first dance. Everyone in the hall had gone silent to watch them dance.

The couple would laugh nervously every now and again because they were the centre of attention. After the first dance many other people got up to dance, including Fang and Vincent. Cloud and Lightning entered the dance floor after it was already fairly crowded. Yuffie dragged Hope onto it just because she wanted to dance with someone who was near her age and not a girl.

Two hours later, Snow and Serah said their goodbyes to everyone who had attended their wedding and left for their honeymoon. The guests started to leave shortly after the couple left, all but the former l'Cie and Avalanche. They had converged into one large group and were finishing their drinks.

"Well we should head out now. Long night ahead," Fang said referring to Vincent and herself. Vincent was calmly finishing his glass of wine.

"But neither of you have night jobs," Vanille said with a confused tone. Everyone other than her and Hope instantly knew what Fang meant.

"Why the fuck would you openly say that?" Cid nearly shouted with a disgusted tone.

"It is amusing to see how you react," Vincent stated as he put down his glass. Vincent stood up and walked out with Fang.

"Well I'm definitely not sleeping tonight," Cid said as he stood up to leave "Then again, passing out counts," He muttered to himself.

Cloud and Lightning were the last people to leave the hall where the reception was held. They walked through the night with the starlit sky over their heads and the gentle sea breeze going against them. Cloud realized then that he like the smell of the sea when it was carried on the wind.

Cloud noticed something graze his fingers and quickly glanced to see what it was. Lightning had laced her fingers with his and had started walking closer to him. Cloud thought that she must be slightly cold in the dress she was wearing, but would not make any actions unless she did something.

"I really do love it when it's quiet like this," Lightning half whispered to Cloud "There is no other sounds to intrude on your thoughts," Cloud nodded in agreement as they kept walking.

It took almost fifteen minutes to walk back to Lightning's house from the reception hall. When they stepped up to the front door, Lightning reached into her small purse, that Serah made her bring, and grabbed her house keys. She swung the door open and invited Cloud inside.

Lightning walked into the kitchen and Cloud shut the door and kicked off his shoes before following her. Lightning ad filled a glass with water and was drinking it when Cloud entered the room. Lightning had gone through half of it before stopping to breath.

"Had to get an actual drink," Lightning said before finishing off the glass. Cloud could tell that she was slightly uncomfortable, he felt the same way.

After Lightning dropped her glass in the sink, she walked over to Cloud and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Lightning giggled quietly about the fact that she was two inches taller than Cloud because of the two inch heels she had on. Lightning also realized that enough wine made her giddy. Lightning leaned forward and pressed her lips against Cloud's and grazed her tongue against them.

Cloud felt Lightning flick her tongue over his lips and returned the action. Lightning though, had parted her lips and let Cloud's tongue slide between her lips. Cloud wrapped his arms around Lightning's middle and pulled her close to him.

After they parted to take a breath, they stared into each others blue eyes. Cloud lost himself in Lightning's icy cobalt and Lightning swam in Cloud's bright pools. They eyelids slowly slid down as they moved their heads closer together and started kissing again.

At one point they both knew they were walking but the night quickly became a blur as instinct took over them.


	9. Chapter 9

**Merry Christmas! As a gift to all my readers, I have jump-started this story. Which means that this is now number one on the priority list.**

The high pitched ring of a cell phone brought Cloud out of his slumber. He followed the sound with his hand and grabbed his phone without opening his eyes. He felt it for a bit to determine the correct way to hold the phone before flipping it open. He moved it to his ear and answered.

"Hello?"

"Did you just wake up?" The voice on the other end asked. Cloud was able to identify the voice as Cid.

"Possibly," Cloud said back.

"Well get the fuck out of bed!" Cid yelled at Cloud through the phone. Cloud grimaced at the noise and pulled the phone away from his ear sharply "If your not at the Highwind in two hours I'll get Tifa to kick your spiky haired ass! So hurry up!"

"I'll be there," Cloud said into the phone before closing it, ending the call.

Cloud felt something wrap around his middle and press into his back. He rolled over and was met with the sight of pink hair and ice-blue eyes. Cloud let a smile grow on his face as he stared into the beautiful cobalt pools.

"I take it that was Cid," Lightning nearly whispered to Cloud.

"We had better get moving, unless you want the Highwind on your doorstep," Cloud said back.

Lightning gave an audible sigh before moving forward to kiss Cloud. Lightning pushed the blanket back after parting with Cloud and reached over to grab her panties. After slipping into them, she stood up and went over to her dresser to grab a bra; Cloud had climbed into his briefs when Lighning stood up.

Lightning got dressed into one of her uniforms and Cloud had put his dress pants and shirt back on, due to having spent the night at Lightning's house. Cloud, though, knew that the others would have his Fusion Sword and his clothes on the Highwind for him.

Two hours and twenty-three minutes later, Cloud and Lightning were aboard the Highwind. Cloud immediately went to change into his regular clothes and Cid steered the airship towards Pulse. After a relatively short trip, they were hovering above the Guardian Corps outpost on Pulse, outside the perimeter of the Midgar ruins.

"So, where should we go first?" Cid asked the large group.

"Nibelheim," Cloud answered without hesitating "But swing by Junon and the Gold Saucer."

"Sure thing chocobo," Cid replied as he directed the Highwind towards the seaside city of Junon.

The journey to Shinra's other city on stilts took no more than an hour. Fang and Vanille had been looking at all the land the airship passed over. Most of Avalanche had been looking as well, they never saw such life in their world. All the land that had been rotting when the eight reactors of Midgar were operating, had fully recovered.

When the group reached Junon, they were not surprised by the sight that greeted them. Five hundred years of salty air, ocean storms, and zero maintenance had taken its toll on the city of steel. The entire city was an enormous pile of broken, twisted steel and powdered concrete.

Cloud had been hoping that Junon was still intact, just so they could collect some of Shinra's secret files. He knew they still could, but that would mean sorting through every piece of dirt of Junon, and that could take centuries.

"Ha! And they said their cities would last forever!" Cid shouted to no one. Everyone knew who Cid meant when he said 'they.'

"I hope there was no one in there when it collapsed," Vanille said in a calm tone.

"No one was, so don't worry," Aerith said to the young woman "Okay?" Vanille nodded and went back to looking at the wreckage.

"On to the Gold Saucer!" Yuffie shouted, almost too cheerfully.

It took four hours for the Highwind to cross the vast ocean. When it passed over Costa del Sol, they group saw that it had become a ghost town, just like Oerba. Other than there being no residents in the coastal town, it was in perfect condition. Cid kept the Highwind moving towards the Gold Saucer, the worlds most famous amusement park. At least it was at one time.

When the very tall structure came into view, it was little more than a rusty-gold desert obelisk. All the 'squares' had long since broken off the main structure. All the 'squares' had been reduced to the same state as Junon, possibly even worse.

"Behold!" Cid shouted sarcastically to no one "The great ruin of the most fucking expensive place on Pulse!"

"So this is the Gold Saucer?" Fang said to herself mainly.

"What was the Gold Saucer?" Vanille asked the members of Avalanche.

"A giant Mako powered amusement park," Cloud answered.

"The central tower was the reactor," Vincent added.

"So it was like Nautilus?" Lightning asked the group.

"Much bigger," Vincent said flatly.

"There is no reason to stay here," Cloud said to cue Cid. Cid opened the throttle of the Highwind and they continued to Nibleheim.

Cid flew over the village but refused to take the Highwind near the sharp and twisted peaks of the local mountains. Cloud had always thought that the Nibel mountain range had looked the way it did because of the Mako Reactor. Aerith could feel an excessive amount of the life stream in the mountains, which was the true explanation for the strange shapes of the mountains.

Cid landed the airship on the edge of the village and everyone got off. The group of eleven walked into the centre of the village and looked around. Tifa and Cloud instantly had a flashback to the day Nibelheim burned to the ground, the day the Sephiroth crisis began.

"What's so important about this place?" Fang asked rather rudely.

"This was our hometown," Cloud said motioning to himself and Tifa. Everyone had noticed how Cloud was speaking in a quiet respectful tone.

"This is the place where the Sephiroth project took place," Vincent said in the same tone.

"And where the Sephiroth crisis began," Tifa also said in the same tone. Tears began to well up in her eyes but she quickly blinked them away.

"So why are here? No offence," Barret asked Cloud.

"Lets go see if there is anything left in the Shinra mansion," Cloud said to the entire group.

As the group approached the mansion they came across an unexpected sight. There were two dragons sleeping in front of the large building. There was more than enough space to walk around them, but Fang, Vanille, and Lightning had never seen a real dragon before. They had only seen the Bahamut type of dragons.

The eleven warriors carefully walked silently around the dragons and up to the front door of the mansion. They quietly opened the ancient doors, slipped inside and shut the doors.

The mansion had taken a severe beating from time. The stairs had collapsed, the floor had been completely shredded and overgrown by grass. There were many holes in the roof and the walls looked ready to buckle at any moment. Overall, it had surprised everyone that the mansion was even standing.

The group of eleven made their way to the basement of the mansion by breaking a hole in the wall to the passage to the basement. As they proceeded through the tunnel, they passed by a room with several coffins strewn about it. Vanille asked about the room and why the centre coffin was empty, but all of Avalanche said they had no idea.

Cloud and Vincent had been hoping that all the records had survived the flow of time. When the group entered the study, the vast collection of reports about the Sephiroth project were still on the shelves. The covers of the books and folders had survived the ravages of time, but the pages had turned to dust.

After seeing that there was no longer anything of value left in the mansion everyone turned to leave. They went out of the study, through the tunnel and up the passage. When they got out of the mansion, the dragons were gone so they continued forward. The silence of the area was eerie.

Before too long the group was back on the Highwind and heading back towards Cocoon. Cid asked if they should go anywhere else but no one had responded. It was strongly evident that there was nothing left of the Pulse Avalanche knew, and fought hard to protect. The thought was rather up lifting for the group because that meant that there was no chance of something like Sephiroth happening again.

The Highwind was almost at the base of the crystal tower when an impulse struck Cloud.

"Cid, go to Fort Condor," Cloud said to the pilot. Cid looked at everyone else, but they just shrugged.

"On to Fort Condor then," Cid said skeptically as he redirected the Highwind.

Everyone had been expecting Fort Condor to be in the same condition as the rest of the cities on Pulse. The sight of Fort Condor still standing on top the hill was a surprising sight for everyone. The land around the fort had fully recovered as well, and had grown onto the reactor. The plants holding the structure in place was most likely the only reason the reactor was still standing.

Cid landed the Highwind on the closest, flat, ground by the reactor and everyone climbed off the airship. As they walked up to the ancient reactor, they all noticed one of the windows was lit. They could only notice that detail because they were in the shadow of the reactor. Everyone drew their weapons, or simply got ready to fight if the need arose, and proceeded cautiously into the reactor.

The group soon heard the crackling of a fire and voices.

"How long were we in crystal sleep?" A young male voice asked. It sounded like the owner of the voice was in his late teens.

"There is no way to know," A second young male voice said in a monotone way "But we must continue back towards our home."

"It would be nice to see if there is anything left of Oerba," A third voice said. This voice was deeper and elder sounding than the other two.

"Oerba?" Vanille said quietly. Fang looked at the young woman and both of them knew who the voices belonged too after a moment.

Fang and Vanille raced around the corner, into the room with the unknown trio. Cloud had tried to stop them but knew there was no point in trying.

"Fang! Vanille!" The three voices shouted in surprised unison.

The rest of the group put away their weapons and walked around the corner. The three men looked just as young as Cloud expected. The three had dim green eyes, and similar clothing with a tribal look to it.

The one on the left had dark brown hair that hung to the centre of his torso and several pouches on his belt. The one in the middle had shoulder length yellow blond hair and a Wutaian sword on his back. The one on the right had short light brown hair, styled sideburns, and clawed gauntlets.

Vanille ran up to and threw her arms around the man in the middle. The man wrapped his arms around Vanille and laid his head on hers. Cid made a noise like he was clearing his throat.

"Oh, sorry," Vanille said, stepping back from the man "This is Oerba Liad Kadaj. He was part of the warrior clan."

"The other two are," Fang said as she pointed to the one with long hair "Oerba Dia Yahzoo," She moved her arm to point at the one with short hair "Oerba Yun Loz."

"I thought everyone in Oerba was a hunter of some sort," Yuffie said to Cloud.

"That would make Kadaj more of an assassin. A hunter of other humans," Nanaki said to the young Ninja.

"Well, we may as well head back now," Cid said loudly "You five can have your tearful reunion on the Highwind. But if there are any tears, take them somewhere else."

After Cid's small moment breaking speech, all fourteen people started to head back to the Highwind. Cloud was still wondering why he had felt an urge to come to Fort Condor. There was something about the three other Pulsians that struck Cloud as wrong. Something about them didn't seem very natural.

**Please Review.**

**I know it took me nearly three months to update this story, but it is back! And dont worry, the updates will be faster than this one but wont happen until after christmas.**

**As I said before this story is now #1 on my priority list. Also as I said before: Please Review.**


	10. Chapter 10

**The Highwind, Bridge**

Cloud had noticed the larger details of the three young men now that they were all on even ground and he was no longer focusing on their faces. Yazoo was the tallest of the three and very lean. Loz was rather bulky with muscle and was slightly taller than Kadaj. Kadaj was an average height and average build.

"So what is the story of you three?" Cid asked the new Oerbans after a long while of silence.

"They were made l'Cie three years before me and Fang," Vanille answered for them.

"We thought we'd never see 'em again," Fang said with no trace of sadness in her voice "So what did happen after you three left Oerba?"

The remaining flight time was filled with the three young men telling their story. Fang and Vanille had explained their relationship to the three. Kadaj had been Vanille's boyfriend before being made a l'Cie, Fang and Loz had been the best of friends for most of their lives, and Yazoo was like a brother to them all. It could be said that of Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo; Yazoo was the brains.

When the group arrived back on Cocoon, life slowed down for them. Days slipped by and turned to weeks as nothing big was happening anymore. The seat of Primarch remained empty because of what happened to Galenth Dysley and Cid Raines. People had started believing that the position was cursed.

When Serah and Snow returned from their two week honeymoon, Lighting greeted them with the news that she had bought them a house. Serah had spent three hours thanking and hugging Lightning for that consideration. The truth was she did not want to be in the same house as Snow anymore.

**Ten months later**

PSICOM had merged with the Guardian Corps and they began constructing a new city on Pulse. They had started construction at the ruins of Kalm by securing the ruins and the area around the town. The former PSICOM CEO, Yaag Rosch, resigned from the Guardian Corps in order to become the new Primarch and promised to lead the population into a new era of prosperity.

Every single person had started enjoying the time of peace. Cocoon citizens had ceased to fear Pulse after seeing the beauty of the lower world. However, there was still those that refused to have anything to do with Gran Pulse.

Avalanche had slowly started getting together less and less until it was a once a month get together. Most of them had put down their weapons and adapted to civilian life. Vincent and Fang had moved down to Pulse simply because they enjoyed the untamed wilderness more than the quiet, laid back life of cities. Everyone would occasionally hear from the two, from Fang specifically, and have a usual conversation about what has been happening.

The three other Oerbans, Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz, had joined the guardian Corps simply because it seemed like the most fun. Kadaj continued to use his sword, Souba, which was a two bladed katana. Yazoo had taken a liking to a pair of small gunblades called Velvet Nightmare's. Loz had decide to upgrade in his category, he manged to get an AMP power fist named Dual Hound.

Lightning and Cloud had gotten used to working with the three Oerbans and enjoyed having them as comrades. Cloud had a feeling though, similar to a small chill. Something about the three bothered him.

And Lightning still only let Cloud and Serah call her Claire. Cloud and Serah still had not told anyone, who did not know, Lightning's real name.

**Villiers Residence, Bodhum; The Monthly Get-Together**

This was the first time the event was held at the Villiers house, the first time Avalanche and the former l'Cie was going to see Serah and Snow in ten months. When everyone had arrived they were rather surprised by what they saw. Snow and Serah had decorated their house for the event. There were streamers, snacks and drinks. A few of the team members shook their head as they chuckled.

Everyone made themselves at home within minutes. Cloud and Vincent were off to one side of the room discussing something that seemed important, Snow was playing a card game with NORA, Cid, and Aerith. All the others, except Sazh, were scattered about in pairs as they shared or reminisced stories. Sazh had the TV turned on and had it set to the news.

Cloud waved Lightning over to him and Vincent walked away from Cloud, going into a different corner. Cloud took Lightning's left hand in his right and noticed that he lost most of his nerve.

"How long have we been together?" Cloud asked himself more than her "Ten months?"

"About that," Lightning answered with a smile. She couldn't help but smile as she looked into the artificial bright blue eyes. Lightning felt her smile get bigger and was only partially aware of the room getting quiet as Cloud dropped to one knee and pulled a small box out of his pocket.

"Lightning Farron," Cloud said while looking into her eyes "Will you marry me?" He said after opening the small box, that contained the ring that had a fairly large diamond with a red-ish tint that made it appear pink.

Lightning wanted to say yes to Cloud but her voice was refusing to work. She felt a tear of happiness roll down her cheek and just nodded quickly. Cloud showed a large smile and stood up to pull her into a strong embrace. Lightning locked her lips on Cloud's before he even had a chance to react. Everyone else had clapped or cheered for the two warriors that lost nearly everything, but had found a new thing to live for.

Once the ruckus had calmed down Vincent was the first to speak.

"I'm not wearing a suit again," Cloud looked over his shoulder in surprise. For the first time since they found him, Vincent had used a joking tone and had a smirk to accompany the joke.

Almost everyone had at least chuckled at Vincent's joke. As the room fell silent once again, the most inopportune thing happened to the newly engaged couple. Both their phones started ringing simultaneously, meaning that was a dire emergency at the base that needed immediate attention.

They both checked the caller ID of their phones and saw that it was the base that had interrupted one of the most romantic moments in their relationship. It was not a phone call though, they both had simply received a text message from lieutenant Amodar that had said 'Bodhum Hospital, ASAP.'

"Time may have stopped for us, but life goes on," Cloud said quietly to Lightning. They shared one more kiss before parting to head out.

"Should we go to?" Kadaj asked Cloud and Lightning as they walked by.

"Yes, since its an emergency," Lightning replied without turning or breaking stride.

The five had climbed into or onto their vehicles and hurried to respond to the summons. It took them approximately ten minutes to get to the large white building. The lieutenant was waiting outside for them and he had a very grave look of his face, which was unusual for him.

"What's the situation, sir?" Lightning said after snapping a salute.

"You'll see," Amodar replied quietly as he turned around and started walking to the building.

The five were led through the long hallways of the clean looking and smelling building. It reminded Cloud of the Shinra building, the reason he hated hospitals. The group of five followed lieutenant Amodar down into the isolation area of the hospital where there were seven people behind two air sealing doors and a decontamination chamber. The five looked through the thick glass wall of the room and were afraid of what they saw.

Six of the seven people had bruising in seemingly random places on their bodies. In some places it looked as if the bruised skin was decomposing while still on the people. The worst part was what was seeping out of holes formed by the decomposed flesh. The black sludge slowly crept its way out of the 'wounds' and trickled slowly onto the beds and floor. The seventh person was a doctor in a bio-hazard suit.

"This squad was stationed on Pulse a week ago," Amodar began to explain "They returned three days ago and . . . _THIS_ started happening this morning," The doctor walked into the decontamination chamber took off the suit and left the room.

"Lieutenant," The doctor said with a grave look "Nothing is working. Whatever this is, it's not affected at all by any medicine. I would like to say that they only have a few days left," The doctor looked quickly at everyone giving him a strange look "The disease seems to be only affecting the skin and surface muscles. Those six will probably live for another six months, but they will be in an immense amount the entire time."

"Your sure you've never seen this before?" Yazoo asked the doctor, making everyone turn to him "This isn't the first time this has happened. It happened more than five hundred years ago, before the war of transgression," Cloud felt his eyes widen as he remembered the vision Sephiroth forced them to see when he appeared, just over a year ago.

"If that is the truth," Lightning said with zero emotion in her voice "All we can do is hope that it hasn't spread."

"Thats, more or less why I contacted you," Amodar said calmly "If you see anyone with an abnormal amount of bruising, report them. We can't risk this spreading. And don't tell anyone, Primarch Rasch doesn't even know yet."

The five snapped a salute then turned and left. They returned to the Villiers residence and just told everyone that it wasn't anything serious. Just a misunderstanding that made something seem like an armed robbery. Cloud though, broke the one of the rules Amodar gave them. He instantly told Vincent because the gunslinger would have found out eventually, if he didn't already know.

Over the next nine days, life was almost normal. Twelve people with 'suspicious' bruising were taken to the hospital and the hospital had put an entire floor under quarantine. On the tenth day after the meeting with Lieutenant Amodar, Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo disappeared.

The next day, Cloud disappeared. All he left was a small piece of paper on Lightning's bedside table that said "I'm sorry."


	11. Chapter 11

Lightning slowly opened her eyes and wished she had not opened them at all. The blindingly bright light from the window was searing her retinas, but she pushed her self up anyways. She felt the blankets fall away from her bare torso and the cool morning air bite her flesh immediately after. Lightning quickly got to her feet grabbed her robe and wrapped it around her naked form.

Lightning turned back to her bed and was expecting Cloud to not be there because he was always awake first. Not surprised by not seeing Cloud she looked at her clock which read eight forty-one. The small piece of paper beside the clock caught her attention. Lightning walked over to and lifted the small piece of paper.

"I'm sorry?" Lightning read with a confused tone. It took her a few seconds to recognize Cloud's writing and as soon as she did she dropped the paper. She had no idea what to think about the note.

Lightning looked over to the chair where Cloud hung his uniform. It was still there. She looked over to the desk where they both put their keys. His were gone. Lightning slowly made her down to the living room and scanned it quickly. Cloud's Fusion Sword was gone. She looked out the front window and saw that his motorbike was gone.

Thinking nothing of it she proceeded back to her room to get dressed. Plain black bra and panties, a black sleeveless blouse and faded black jeans. Lightning brushed her hair and slung it over her left shoulder before grabbing her phone. She flipped it open and pushed the number three for the speed dial of Cloud's phone.

It rang and rang . . . and rang. It rang until the auto answer, answered. The voice was the default feminine voice recording. The usual message of someone not being there played then finally the tone to start the recording.

"Cloud?" Lightning started, instantly realizing she had no idea what to say "Uh, call me when you get this," She flipped her phone closed and slipped it into her small purse.

That was something Lightning just simply was not able to adjust to. Even after ten months, Lightning absolutely despised carrying the small hand bag around with her. But she had to carry it with her because her pockets were so small and tight that they were rendered useless. She could not determine why there were pockets on her jeans if they were completely unusable. One small detail registered right before she took her hand off her phone.

Lightning pulled her phone back out and flipped it open again. Across the panel were the words 'One New Message.' She navigated to her voice mail inbox and played the message.

"Claire," The recording of Cloud's voice said "I'm on Pulse and I've disabled the GPS in my phone so don't bother. Please try to understand, I don't mean to hurt you but it has to be this way," Lightning felt her legs growing weak "I'm sorry."

Lightning felt the floor crash into her knees as she felt a wave of depression wash over her. Cloud was gone, he left without saying anything to her, he had left while she was asleep. She did not realize she was crying until she saw the drops of water on the floor.

Lightning had a single question and several points slipping through the mind shattering depression. Why would Cloud leave? The Sephiroth plague was becoming an epidemic, several soldiers had disappeared, the three male Oerbans had disappeared, and the amount of petty and major crime was increasing exponentially.

Lightning's depression had overpowered her logical thinking and rage took the place of depression in a matter of seconds. She slammed her right fist into the floor repeatedly for three minutes before noticing that she had broken three of her knuckles and split the skin on them. There was now a puddle of blood and tears on the floor in front of her.

After swallowing her her emotions, she grabbed her phone in her left hand and dialled Serah's number.

"Hello?" Serah asked, sounding confused. Which was expected because Lightning never called at random "What's up Light?" Lightning still couldn't believe she was going to ask this.

"I need to talk to you, could you send Snow to get me? I messed up my hand yesterday."

"Okay, Snow will be there in, liiiike, ten minutes? See you soon, sis."

"Bye," Lightning said before hanging up and going to bandage and splint her hand. She was determined to tell Serah what happened and not break down.

**Twelve Minutes Later**

"I may not be a doctor Light, but that looks rather fresh," Snow said, referring to her broken hand. Lightning looked down and saw a red spot that was slowly getting bigger.

"Whatever," Lightning huffed and turned her head to look out the window to avoid any more conversation.

"So where's Cloud today?" Lightning saw her vision swim with tears at the simple question and quickly blinked them away.

"He's at work," Lightning said flatly.

"Okay, how is it you still don't like me?" Snow asked Lightning, genuinely curious about that.

"Its because you're annoyingly cheerful," Lightning revealed one of the many reasons why she did not like the oaf. Snow just laughed at the reason.

"Well then, I'll try to be more depressing," Snow laughed.

**Fifteen Minutes Later, Villiers Residence**

Serah had managed to shoo Snow off the property so she and Lightning could talk privately. They had spent the first few minutes talking about how Serah's pregnancy has been gong, what the baby might be like. Until Serah finally approached the subject.

"What happened with Cloud?" Serah said calmly, taking Lightning by surprise.

"He-" Lightning felt her throat close and her vision began to swim again "H-He left," Lightning stuttered as her voice threatened to break.

"What?" Serah asked, her eyes widening "What do you mean he left?"

"I-I woke up this morning and he was gone," Lightning was trying to blink away her tears but had to start wiping them away "He left a note o-on my night table," Lightning's voice broke and the tears began to run down her cheeks "A-and a message on my phone," Lightning handed her phone to Serah as she tried to regain control over her emotions.

After Serah listened to the message, she closed the phone and gave it back to Lightning. Her sisters condition was deteriorating very quickly. Lightning was taking ragged breaths and had tears rapidly flowing down her cheeks.

"Why would he leave? Why now? He knew that he was needed here, but he left anyways," Lightning had sunk to full blown bawling now "And there isn't even a way to know where he is, if he's alive, or dead. I just . . . I just . . . I don't know."

"What about Vincent?" Serah said with a small smile.

"What?" Lightning said as she wiped her eyes.

"Call Vincent. He's always on Pulse and the others say he can find anything," When said others she was referring to Avalanche "Pass me my phone and I'll tell Aerith to call him."

Lightning was already starting to feel better, now that she could at least know that Cloud was alive.

**Pulse, Two Days Later**

The wind through his blond hair, the rumbling of the engine, the shaking of the bike as it raced over rough ground. Cloud loved all of those things but he did not feel happy. He felt terrible, and for good reason. He left the woman he promised to marry and he didn't even tell her why. Cloud knew that if he did tell Lightning, it would have been much worse.

The sun was almost completely down now. It was almost time to set up camp for the night and let Fenrir rest. Fenrir, the large custom built motorcycle that all of Avalanche pitched in to buy the parts for Cid to build it. Cid had told Cloud that only he was allowed to work on the bike, any other mechanic would just mess things up.

That was six days ago. Cloud had only owned Fenrir for six days and he had not let anyone else drive it at all. Not even Lightning had driven the very large motorbike. It was understandable, Lightning did not like bikes, she preferred four wheels because that was a safer number.

Cloud drove over to a rock overhang and drove under the ledge. He climbed off the bike, untied his bedroll from the back and tossed it down. Cloud sat down on the bed roll and took his phone out of his pocket and pushed a few buttons. He sat staring at the name of his fiancee with his thumb over the send button for several minutes, but like the dozen other times that day he just flipped his phone closed again.

Pain shot through his left arm for a moment and winced at it. The pain was growing more fierce every twelve hours. Cloud looked at his sleeve covered left arm for a long moment wondering how the plague spread. The title of plague was a fairly good hint at how it spread. Air, water, insects, rodents, touch, bodily fluids; it could have been one, some or all of those. All Cloud knew was he could not risk exposing Lightning to it.

"Cloud?" Cloud almost jumped at the deep, gruff voice "Good you're awake. It will make this easier."

"Make what easier, Vincent?" Cloud asked without turning to the gunslinger.

"I shouldn't have to say this, but when you left you destroyed Lightning," Vincent said in his usual emotionless way "Don't worry though, I'm not here to take you back. It would be stupid to risk exposing everyone to the plague by forcing you to go home. However, I was asked to find out how you are," As Vincent finished talking he grabbed his phone out of his pocket and grabbed Cloud's out of his hand.

Vincent found the number for Lightning in Cloud's contact list and punched it in his phone. He flipped Cloud's phone closed and tossed it back to the blond swordsman. After three seconds of holding the phone to his ear, Vincent spoke.

"Lightning, Cloud is fine . . . I just spoke to him . . . I can't answer that for you . . . I promised not to . . . I'll see what I can do," Vincent flipped his phone closed and put it back in his pocket.

"I know she wants me back, so there is no point in saying it."

"That's not what I was going to say. Cloud, there is something foul approaching. And I have a feeling that you are going to be the only one who can deal with it," Vincent turned away from Cloud and began walking away "By the way, Shinra actually named this plague, Geostigma. Also, there is a cure."

"Really?" Cloud asked, a bit too excitedly.

"Yes, but the cure is raw energy from the life stream. And there was only one way to get that," Vincent turned back to Cloud before the shadows of the night consumed him "Good luck, Cloud."

Cloud thought about what Vincent had told him. Raw life stream was the cure for this plague.

"So in order to cure the Geostigma, a mako reactor needs to be built. Can this get any more complicated," Then, as if on cue, the pain in Cloud's arm became so great it almost made him pass out. Cloud was drifting in and out of consciousness and his mind went blank with the exception of one new thing.

"Oh Cloud, things can always get much worse," A deep, smooth and unforgettable voice echoed in Cloud's mind before he blacked out.

**First off, sorry about any errors because I pretty much wrote this entire chapter in a total of four hours. I usually spend 2-3 days writing a chapter.**

**Second, Final Fantasy XIII-2 was officially announced yesterday (Jan. 20 2011). It is supposed to be in stores next winter. **

**Sorry about that randomness, but I'm excited. I also knew that Squenix would make a sequel. Call it writers intuition.**

**Anyways, Please Review.**


	12. Chapter 12

**To be honest, last chapter was mostly improvised. I couldn't think of the direction I wanted it to go, so i just wrote until I had a cliff hanger. I have like three different endings for the story in mind and I can't decide on which one.**

**Bodum, Farron – Strife Residence, The Next Day**

"I am going to fucking kill him!" Cid shouted when Vincent broke the news to the group.

Everyone had been surprised to hear that Vincent had wanted to talk to them. They all had gathered at Lightning's house because Lightning had become a wreck after Vincent told her. The only one who was not at Lightning's house was Hope, who was in school at the moment. Fang had taken Vanille aside after noticing that she was just not as bouncy as before.

Fang and Vanille could hear most of Avalanche talking about Cloud. Most of them were talking about how ridiculous Cloud was being and it might just be a mental breakdown. Fang though only kind of cared about the blond warriors motives at the moment.

"What's wrong Vanille?" Fang said in the most innocent tone she could muster.

"Nothing," Vanille replied with a distant tone.

"What's wrong Vanille?" Fang asked again, but much less friendly.

"Kadaj called me yesterday," Vanille said without looking at Fang.

"Whats wrong with that?" Fang asked, genuinely confused by the statement.

"He sounded different," Vanille stated, keeping her eyes on the floor between her and Fang "He said he was coming back today, to have a reunion."

"Well that's an odd thing to say," Fang said as she began pacing "What do you mean different?"

"He just sounded odd," Vanille said quickly "I'm not sure how."

"Well did he say when?" Fang asked.

Directly after Fang spoke, they heard Sazh Shout something something from the front room where everyone else was. Fang and Vanille went back into the room and saw everyone looking at the television in complete silence.

As usual Sazh had it set to the news, but it was what was being reported that had everyone's attention. The report was coming from down the beach and it was about a violent three on one fight.

"Sazh, why are you watching this? It's just another thing the Corps will deal with," Barret said to the pilot.

"Just watch," Sazh said quickly.

After a moment of watching, what they were waiting for was presented. There were four people on the beach in a face off. The team of three, who wearing all black, were forming a triangle around the solo fighter who had two large swords in his hands.

"Cloud!" Lightning yelled.

Everyone immediately leapt into action. Everyone who had put down their weapons grabbed them and flew out the back door. Lightning raced upstairs to put on her uniform and grab Blaze Edge. It only took a few moments for Lightning to climb out of her robe and into her uniform. She ripped Blaze Edge from the sheath and ignored attaching the boxy sheath.

Lightning was soon right behind the group running down the beach. They reached the small battle within five minutes. It was indeed Cloud and three others, but the three were something out of the nightmares of the others. The three had silver hair and black leather outfits, rendering all those who just arrived stunned.

The three also had different weapons. One had a two bladed katana, one had a AMP power fist and the last had two small gun-blades.

"Kadaj?" Vanille said quietly. The one with the sword turned to her and let a small smile appear. Everyone saw his bright green slit pupil eyes and flinched.

"Ah, Vanille," Kadaj said unusually smooth "Are you here to join us and father?"

"Father?"

"Sephiroth," Kadaj said with a cheerful voice "He is the one that gave us our lives and power. We all owe him so much," As Kadaj spoke he turned back to Cloud "Even you Cloud."

"I owe him nothing!" Cloud shouted as he rushed at Kadaj.

Cloud recombined his swords mid stride and razed the large weapon above his head. He brought it down with all his strength in an effort to vertically cleave Kadaj in half. Kadaj sidestepped the attack with great ease and watched the massive fusion blade slam into the sand, forming a small crater.

"Take care of them," Kadaj said to Yahzoo and Loz while nodding towards the large group "I'll take on brother,"

"Brother?" Fang asked loudly just before a bullet from Yazoo's Velvet Nightmare ripped through the air beside her ear. The only reason he missed was because of Vincent pulling her away.

Fang hit the sand fully surprised. She had not been expecting the sudden appearance of ground on her arm. Four shots rang out, the explosive sound started a familiar ringing in the ears of everyone in the immediate area of Cerberus.

The twelve bullets raced towards Yazoo, but hit the sand as he jumped to the side with inhuman speed. Yazoo sent a volley of shots back towards Vincent, who had mimicked Yazoo with a dodge. Seeing how futile it was to shoot at Vincent, Yazoo chose to target everyone else.

Loz charged at the large group and began swinging wildly. It did not matter who he hit because all of group were an enemy to him now. Loz had come very close to slamming his fist into the gut of several of them, but they had help from the stronger few of the group.

Barret, Snow, Tifa, Cid, and Fang all stepped forward to battle the melee fighter. Vincent, Yuffie, and Sazh prepared to engage in a long distance fight with the gunner of the black garbed trio. Lightning ran to Cloud's side and gave him a slight look of happiness, but then quickly turned her most vicious glare on Kadaj. Aerith and Vanille stayed in the back, wordlessly agreeing to support the others with a small nod.

The fight quickly exploded out of hand. Cloud, Lightning and Kadaj were nearly flying all over the beach with their sword and magic combat. Aerith and Vanille were unable to keep up with the injuries Yazoo and Loz were inflicting on the others. The combat was quickly diminished to just Kadaj versus Cloud and Lightning, Vincent and Fang versus Loz and Yazoo, and Aerith and Vanille.

"Where is it brother?" Kadaj said calmly to Cloud.

"Brother?" Lightning asked with complete confusion.

"That will be explained later," Kadaj said with a shake of his head "But where is it brother? Where is the Black Materia?" Kadaj looked between Cloud and Lightning for any sort of give away of the Materia's location.

"Kadaj," Loz said loudly to get the silver haired swordsmans attention.

"It is on her wrist," Yazoo stated, directly after Loz spoke, by waving his Velvet Nightmare towards Aerith.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Kadaj snapped at the two.

Vincent, Fang, Vanille, and Aerith saw the smiles of pure cruelty spread on the faces of the two Sephiroth like warriors. Sephiroth had been the only other person to master the smile that showed every single one of his cruel intentions, it was the one thing that haunted Avalanche to this very moment.

Loz vanished from sight and the sound of Fang being launched off her feet distracted Vincent. The gunslinger looked over just in time to see Fang take flight from the sheer force of Loz's hit and with his attention pulled elsewhere, Yazoo struck. The young man's foot collided with the gunslingers jaw, knocking him off his plated feet. Vincent and Fang hit the ground at the same time and rolled an equal amount, but Fang was much further away.

Cloud and Lightning wanted to rush to the aid of the others, but the second their backs were turned to Kadaj, they would have the two bladed katana Souba through them. Kadaj chuckled at the sight of Cloud and Lightning wanting to help their comrades and not wanting to be killed by a back attack.

"Lightning," Cloud said only loud enough for her to hear him "Go help them, leave Kadaj to me."

"No. He's to fast for you," Lightning replied harshly "You go help them."

Cloud was hit with a serious dilemma. Help his friends and leave Lightning to an extremely vicious foe, or stay here and open a chance for his friends to be killed. Cloud let body decide for him.

"Be careful Claire," Cloud said quietly before running towards Loz and Yazoo.

The blond warrior lifted his massive sword above his head and sharply brought it down over Yazoo. The long haired gunman quickly spun and used his dual gun-blades to stop the sword short. Everyone other than the three Sephiroth like warriors were completely stunned by the act. Yazoo took advantage of the stunning moment and planted a very powerful kick into Cloud's gut. The blond warriors feet left the ground and he flew past the downed gunslinger and huntress. Cloud adjusted his weight and landed with his feet safely on the ground; he charged once more towards Yazoo and Loz.

Lightning and Kadaj circled each other, the air heated, sparks took flight, and their eyes burned. Lightning's eyes had pure, unchecked hatred in them; Kadaj had amusement with a hint of insanity in his bright green eyes. Their feet slowly created a circle in the sand as the battle between Cloud and the other two silver haired men raged on.

Lightning saw a small twitch in Kadaj's wrist and razed her sword into a defensive stance. The instant her sword was in front of her, Souba crashed down onto it. Lightning was amazed at how much power had been in that swing, it was far more than the blows from the Buster Sword. The speed at which Kadaj had moved across the ten foot gap was stunning, but Lightning had been expecting it.

"Why do you try to stop us?" Kadaj asked Lightning with genuine interest.

"You are trying to revive Sephiroth, and I will never allow that."

"But Father knows where your parents are," Kadaj's statement stunned Lightning. Kadaj watched as Lightning's eyes grew wide and took the advantage. In a moment, Lightning had Blaze Edge forced from her grasp, spun around, pushed onto her knees and had Souba at her throat.

"Brother!" Yazoo shouted to Cloud.

Cloud halted his advance and looked towards Yazoo, the young gunslinger that had vanished from sight for a second. What Cloud saw made him freeze, Yazoo was behind both Aerith and Vanille and had his Velvet Nightmares directed at their heads. Cloud checked on Lightning and saw the blades at her throat and did not see any way of salvaging this situation.

"Drop your weapon, brother," Yazoo said calmly to Cloud, who complied, and let the Fusion Sword fall to the sand "Loz. Grab the Black Materia."

Loz strode forward, grabbed the chain bracelet on Aerith's wrist and pulled. The chain shattered easily and fell away from the ink black orb. Loz placed it between his left thumb and index finger and examined the orb. All could see that he was entranced by the light absorbing sphere.

"Give it to me," Kadaj commanded. Loz swung his arm and the Black Materia sailed through the air.

Vincent watched as Kadaj's arms relaxed and brought the sword away from Lightning's neck. As the sword slid into the sheath, Vincent reached his right arm forward and closed his hand around the handle of Cerberus. He rolled over and fired twice. Yazoo and Loz had not been expecting the occurance and both took the three bullet formation to the head. They both tumbled back, completely lifeless. No blood poured out of the two bodies, just the dusty smoke that Sephiroth had transformed into the last time they saw him.

The Black Materia landed in Kadaj's left hand and his fingers snapped shut around it. A flash of dark purple light and a tremble ran through the ground. Kadaj let a large maniacal smile grow on his face and looked up to rub in his success. His face was met by Lightning's fist. Kadaj fell backword and the Black Materia flew out his hand and landed behind Lightning.

Cloud and Lightning had their swords on Kadaj before he had a chance to stand up. Aerith cast cure on everyone and they regrouped behind Cloud, Lightning, and Kadaj.

"Seems like your reunion has been cancelled," Cid said to the last silver haired warrior.

"Don't be so sure," Kadaj said with a smile and a miniscule amount of laughter in his voice "Any Pulse born can be used," Kadaj's eyes slid shut and his breathing became even.

Cloud's eyes grew wide with realization. He stood up quickly and spun around, everyone following suit. Everyone saw the same thing at the same time, Vanille's bright green eyes now had slit pupils. She extended her right arm and the Black Materia launched off the ground, into her hand.

"A slight inconvenience, but I will manage," It was Vanilles voice but she did not have her accent.

"No fucking way," Barret, Cid and Fang said in unison.

"This is going to be fun," 'Vanille' said with an unusually calm tone. With a flash, the seven foot slim sword appeared in her left hand, and a very large black feathered wing erupted from the right side of her back "Today, your world ends."


	13. Chapter 13

**I have returned.**

**Only one or two more chapters. I hope all of you enjoyed reading this story, even if there was a huge break in the story, and the events moved rather swiftly.**

Everyone could simply stare at the Sephiroth, Vanille hybrid being. The large group of warriors began slowly walking backwards in order to escape the immediate kill zone of the Masamune.

"Not a body I would choose, but you would have expected me to use Kadaj," Sephiroth said to the group, partially explaining his choice.

"But why Vanille?" Fang half yelled at Sephiroth.

"I would have used you, but Ragnarok is preventing me from doing that," Fang took a step back as if she had been struck "You didn't know? I thought that would be something mister Valentine would have told you about."

Fang turned to Vincent with a look that showed she wanted to taste blood and did not care who it would be from "Why would you have to tell me?"

"I will explain later. Focus on Sephiroth," Vincent said quickly.

Suddenly, without any warning, Cloud charged forward with his sword above his head. Cloud launched off the ground directly towards Sephiroth with both hands on the handle of his Fusion Sword. Bringing the sword down with every ounce of power Cloud could summon, there was nearly no way the attack could be blocked. No human could block the attack, but Sephiroth had been far from human since the day he was created.

A flash of steel and an instant later Cloud was flipping end over end towards the group. Vanille was standing with her left arm crossing her front and the Masamune pointing to the right. She relaxed her arm and moved her arms and shoulders around.

"That took a surprising amount of strength," Vanille said with a confused tone "Humans are weak. Can't even handle the simplest tasks in my arsenal," Vanille started walking forwards. As she strode forward, her clothes faded to a undefined ink black form and distorted.

Vanille's clothes grew black tendrils that snaked their way over her body until they formed pants, boots, sleeves, gloves, a cape like coat, and large shoulder pads. The ink like black slid away until the shoulder pads turned into white steel and the rest of the clothes became black leather. The white steel pauldrons were obviously to large for Vanille's small frame, but that quickly was becoming a small issue.

Everyone could see Vanille's arms, legs, and torso stretching and growing, becoming a more masculine frame. A frame identical to Sephiroth. As the bones and muscle in her body and face morphed they all could hear rapid popping of bone and tearing of muscle. Simultaneously, Vanille's hair fell out of her usual pigtails, grew longer and started turning silver; kept on growing until it was the same length as Sephiroth's. All but one lock of hair turned silver.

Within a span of one minute, the person in standing in front of the group had transformed from Vanille to Sephiroth. Sephiroth had one lock of Vanille's bright orange hair is his right peaked bang just to remind them all that he was inhabiting Vanille's body.

"This is much better," Sephiroth said to himself. He lifted his right hand over his left arm and placed the Black Materia on his arm. Giving a small push, the materia slid into his arm. Sephiroth's gaze slid upwards as his hand moved away from his left arm and suddenly, he vanished.

Everyone heard someone get hit in the gut and noticed Sephiroth standing slightly in front of where Cloud had been standing. The group of warriors scattered to flee Sephiroth's definite kill range, the area where the Masamune could reach and kill anyone without resistance. Sephiroth straightened from the post-punch stance and strode over to the blond warrior.

Cloud was on his feet in an instant and charged at the tall silver haired nightmare. Out of his peripheral vision, Cloud saw every gun wielder ready their firearms. The Masamune sliced through the air in a horizontal attack, making Cloud raise his fusion blade vertically to defend against the would be decapitation slash. Partially solid ground abandoned Cloud's feet the moment after the Masamune collided with the fusion blade, the world began to tilt and soon after slammed into Cloud's back. The uneven landing sent Cloud tumbling across the beach, the loose sand acting more like a cushion than a barrier.

Ligthning watched Cloud leave the ground once again, and Blaze Edge was in gun mode in an instant. She did not hesitate in releasing a salvo of bullets towards Sephiroth. Barret, Vincent and Sazh joined the gunfire at almost the exact same time. Even though they have all seen things that seemed impossible in their wildest dreams, Sephiroth amazed them once more.

The elite soldier was blocking countless shots from four directions. The Masamune ceased to be a sword and became a spherical shield around Sephiroth, cutting every bullet out of the air long before they got close to him. Vincent holstered Cerberus when everyone had to reload and let all of his mental defenses against Chaos, fall. Sephiroth turned to the gunslinger, extended his arm and spoke.

"Lets keep those beasts under control," the light from Vincents chest that showed Chaos breaking through quickly diminished and vanished entirely.

"Unbelievable," Vincent muttered while quickly drawing Cerberus to continue shooting at Sephiroth.

The gun wielders gave up after a solid minute of shooting at Sephiroth. It was impossible to hit him with a bullet outside the range of two feet. Cloud and Lightning charged towards Sephiroth to force him onto close combat. Sords flew through the air, and the three of them were crossing the beach quickly, approaching the road where reporters and civilians stood.

Sephiroth was able to get out of Cloud and Lightning's pincer attack and positioned himself so they were both in front of him, with their backs to the road. One powerful slash made the two heroes stumble and a second one sent them flying. Lightning spun off to Sephiroth's left, tumbling onto the sand and Cloud sailed backwards up to the road and into the side of a news van.

The people screamed and began running away from the scene as Sephiroth walked up the beach to where Cloud had landed. Every news person on the scene dropped their equipment and sprinted away. Cloud ignored the immense pain in his back and stood again to fight the self proclaimed god.

Tires squealing made Cloud look around. All the vehicles in the area slid away from him and Sephiroth forming a half circle twenty feet wide. The power of Sephiroth would never cease to amaze the blond warrior. The Masamune rose into the air as Sephiroth readied another attack.

Before the sword could part the air, a shot rang out. Sparks exploded from the hilt of the Masamune and it tumbled out of Sephiroth's hand, across the pavement and landed fifty feet away from the black clothed elite. Cloud knew that who ever fired that shot was soon to be killed or severely injured, Sephiroth's gaze sliding towards the direction of the shot's origin was the obvious clue.

* * *

"How was that?" A black haired women said into a headset radio.

"Great shot Lebreau. Now take him out," Snow said from the ground. The group other than Lightning had gathered and tried to think of a plan. Their best idea so far was a sniper. Snow saw his friend with ink black hair turn and give a thumbs up from the roof of her beach side cafe and bar, 7th heaven.

Suddenly, a fireball the size of a car exploded out of the door. Most of the roof had caved in and Lebreau had disappeared into the smoke.

"Lebreau!" Snow yelled as loud as he could and charged towards the flaming building. He knew there was no way in through the front of the burning building. The tall blond sprinted around the back, closely followed by the large group former l'Cie, NORA, and Avalanche.

They found Lebreau lying on the ground trying to slap out flames that had latched onto her shorts. Vincent up in front of the group, to Lebreau, and used his cape to suffocate the flames. Vincent lifted the black haired sniper and handed her to Snow, the gunslingers message was clear, the message of get her to the hospital. The flames had melted part of Lebreau's shorts, boiling the skin and causing damage that she would never recover from.

* * *

Cloud was quickly getting overwhelmed by the sheer strength of Sephiroth. It was confusing to try to think of how Sephiroth could get stronger from being dead for an extended time. Sephiroth had warped the Masamune back into his hand and was trying to dismember the blond warrior. Every time the abnormally long silver blade slammed into Cloud's huge fusion sword, the muscles in his arms grew more fatigued. Knowing he would not last much longer against the nightmare, Cloud prayed for a miracle.

Lightning had considered removing her boots so she could effectively sneak up to Sephiroth, but did not because of what could be on the ground. Silently she walked, slowly, stealthily, hoping Sephiroth would not pick up on her presence. Lightning watched Sephiroth move the Masamune into his rest position and catch her reflection. Her eyes widened at the sight, but she kept moving forward to take this chance. A white van shifting attracted her gaze, the very instant it left the ground Lightning dropped to the ground.

The large vehicle launched towards her and nearly bounced off the top of her head. The van crumpled as it rolled across the ground behind Lightning. She looked back at Sephiroth who was half way through a downward slash at her neck. Quickly rolling to the side, the blade barely missed her and got imbedded in the concrete.

Cloud sprinted up behind Sephiorth and received a hard back kick to the chest. Cement crashed into the back of Clouds head and he knew blood was now oozing out of the wound. Sephiroth spun away from Cloud and threw his fist into Lightning's back as she was racing to her feet. Being forcefully slammed back onto the ground robbed Lightning of her breath and bruised several ribs. She could not even fathom trying to get up off the ground again with Sephiroth standing over her. Cloud on the other hand, lying less than twenty feet away, felt his consciousness slipping as his vision wavered between a crystal clear view of the cloudless sky and fading to black.

Sephiroth could not really believe this situation. He was standing between the two most annoying enemies he had ever encountered and they were on the ground ready to die. It would not be good enough to simply kill them now, he had to publicize this event somehow. The news van off to the side most likely had a camera of some sort. He remembered seeing a reporter flee the scene as he approached the area so that camera should be close by.

"There it is," Sephiroth said quietly as he spotted the aerial camera. He levitated the camera over to him and activated it, making look down on the scene.

* * *

Hope despised Math class with a passion. It was just so boring and drawn out. He wanted something to happen, anything to make this day more interesting. The television suddenly turned on without warning, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room including the teacher. The static on the screen screeched for a full minute before anything happened. The screen changed to a picture of a top down view of three people with swords. A man lying on the ground with a large sword, a woman lying on the ground with a small sword in her hand and someone standing, holding a very long sword.

Without even thinking, Hope yelled loudly "Lightning!"

The view zoomed in on the man standing, the man with long silver hair and a long black coat. The man looked up at the camera and smiled, his cat like bright green eyes flashing with madness.

"Hello citizens of Cocoon, today I kill the two that saved your world."


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry for the wait. For a while i was having focus issues, the internet is evil. Well here it is, as promised. Please read, review, and most of all, enjoy.**

"Hello Citizens of Cocoon, today I kill the two that saved your world." Sephiroth said to the camera, madness racing through his bright green eyes. He looked away from the camera and started walking towards Cloud, the Masamune vanishing as he walked.

* * *

"I want this sicko taken off the air NOW," Primarch Rosch yelled to his assistants "I don't care how, just silence this terrorist."

"Sir, we have already tried," a nervous young man muttered.

"What do you mean?" Rosch questioned.

"Every radio and television station stopped transmitting as soon as that," Rosch's assistant pointed to the screen "Started broadcasting."

"So he is broadcasting this message over every channel and radio wave, even though not one tower is transmitting," Primarch Yaag Rosch was beginning to think that this was not just an ordinary terrorist. This could possibly be the only being more stubborn than a Fal'Cie "Do we have any idea where this signal is coming from?"

"Bodhum, sir," A young woman said quickly.

"Send every soldier in the area. This man needs to die."

* * *

When Sephiroth reached the blond, he pulled off his black gloves and removed his long black coat,his wing temporarily disappearing, letting it fall to the ground into a heap. The bare chested warrior stood over the blond and lowered himself down, knees on either side of Clouds torso. The two glared at each other for a solid minute before Sephiroth's left fist crashed into the right side of Clouds face. Just as Clouds head was forced to his left, Sephiroth hit him with his right fist, quickly followed by another hit from the left fist. After six alternating hits, Sephiorth stopped for a moment.

"I always thought I would kill you with the Masamune or my magic," Sephiroth said quietly to the blond.

"Sorry for disappointing you," Cloud hissed back, his gaze flicking to the lock of orange hair.

"Don't get me wrong, Cloud, I am filled with joy that I will be able to end your life with my bare hands," Sephiroth ended their exchange of words by resuming the beating.

Lightning took the opportunity to race to her feet and attempt to help Cloud. She grabbed Blaze Edge and ran as quietly as possible, knowing she had a very slim chance of actually succeeding. When She was within ten feet of Sephiroth, he turned to his left to look at her, his right hand was open and a bolt of lightning jumped out of it. The bolt slammed into Lightning's chest, throwing her off her feet and yanking the air out of her lungs.

All the others, except for Snow, arrived just in time to hear the crash of thunder and see Lightning hit the ground. They saw Sephiorth, his folded in black wing, straddling Cloud and beating the life out of the blond warrior. Fang made a move but the sight of Lightning stopped her.

"C-Can't get . . . close enough . . . too fast," Lightning managed to sputter out. Aerith instantly went to heal Lightning of her wounds.

"We get too close and he puts us down," Vincent said in a thoughtful tone "And we can't even hurt him because he is using Vanille," Fang lit up at the mention of her close friend.

"Vanille!" Fang shouted as loud as she could "Don't you dare let him kill Cloud!" no one thought that what Fang was doing would have any effect at all.

Almost everyone fell victim to open-mouth surprise when Sephiroth's fist immediately stopped mid-swing. Sephiroth's gaze snapped to his blood soaked fist that refused to follow his command, a heated glare on his face.

"How is this possible?" Sephiroth hissed at, as it appeared to the others, himself. His fingers slowly uncurled and a bright flash followed soon after. The light dissipated and every wound Cloud had received was completely gone, along with any and all traces of them "How did she -" Sephiroth was interrupted by Cloud planting a fist on his chest, sending the silver haired warrior sprawling.

Cloud scrambled to climb to his feet and raced to retrieve his Fusion Blade. With the large sword firmly in his grasp, Cloud turned to finish the battle. However, Sephiroth was still climbing off the ground. He was trembling and twitching from trying to overpower Vanille, who had amazing mental strength by anyone's standards.

Sephiroth was engulfed in light making only his large black wing visible. A flash happened and Vanille was rolling across the ground towards the group. The light grew larger and the black wing flapped slowly, but with each flap it grew larger. The wing and the light grew to an immense size; it had lifted into the air as if to make room for its size.

* * *

As the light grew brighter on the screen, every one of the viewers in the main square of Nautilus had to shield their eyes. Soon after the bright light, the screen switched to a blank blue screen meaning the unknown signal was now dead. The screen flashed off then back on quickly, but was now filled by a young female news caster.

"It has been reported that nearly all military forces in Bodhum and Palumpolum are moving towards the origin of the strange transmission that had been on the air until a moment ago."

Murmurs spread through the crowd. Most of the people were saying it was a good idea to send the military, especially if someone was impersonating the man that had threatened all life.

* * *

Fang dropped her double bladed lance, charged towards Vanille, threw the small girl onto her shoulder and sprinted back to the group. Vanille jumped off the huntress' shoulder and took up a battle stance.

Six huge white wings erupted from the bottom of the light. The light dimmed until vanishing and in its place was a being of enormous size. The being was a hybrid of two forms Avalanche fought many years ago, a complete monstrosity. The upper body was the grotesque form of what had been called Bizarro Sephiorth, by Shinra, except it had the gigantic black wing and two full arms of great size; it would be able to hold a fully grown adult in one hand. The lower half of it was the six white wings that had replaced Sephiroth's legs when he had taken his 'Seraph' form. The core of the being still protruded out the front of the being, showing the obvious weak spot.

"How are we supposed to kill that thing?" Sazh shouted in a panic stricken voice.

"Just calm down old man," Fang yelled to him.

"He just made himself a fal'Cie. We have killed a few of those," Lightning said to the former l'Cie.

"And we have killed him before!" Cloud shouted to Avalanche.

"You believe you can kill me?" Sephiroth said through their minds, making everyone shudder at the intrusion "I'll have you know, I have become indestructible. The annihilation of your weak species is unavoidable," Sephiroth directed his left hand towards the group, spread his fingers and a blue beam shot from his palm.

Everyone barely got out of the way in time. The beam impacted the ground, throwing dust and dirt in every direction. When the cloud of dust settled and everyone had climbed to their feet, a devastating sight met them. A perfectly round hole, five feet across and ten feet deep, now sat where the team had been standing not twenty seconds ago.

"And that is just the tip of the iceberg," Sephiroth said telepathically "Allow me to show you some of my greater power," the black wing rose up until it was pointing straight into the air, and every feather began to glow.

The glow grew brighter and more orange until only the edge of the wing had an orange tint and soon after, fired off the wing with a whoosh sound. The light burst into countless small beams that spread out in every direction. The beams slowly curved down towards the ground while the group stared in awe. As the beams rained down, they slammed into buildings, cars, and the ground creating explosions as if Sephiroth had just summoned several artillery strikes on Bodhum.

In mere seconds, many buildings had been completely leveled. More cars than anyone could care to count were destroyed or crushed and undoubtedly nearly thousands of lives had been ended in an instant. As Bodhum burned around them, the group felt something that was alien to them, a feeling that only appeared when they were confronted by Sephiroth and his infinitely superior power. Complete hopelessness.

Sephiroth raised his right hand towards the group spread his fingers and revealed something stunning. On his palm was a giant image of a fully developed Pulse l'Cie brand. The image began shining a bright crimson and Sephiroth spoke.

"Once branded a l'Cie, you never escape the fate," the former Pulse l'Cie fell to their knees and clutched the places their brands used to be.

"Lightning!" Cloud shouted and ran to her side. A furious red glowed from beneath her clothes, but was fully visible above them.

Vincent went to Fang's side and saw the area of the mark shining the same shade of red "Release them you bastard!" he shouted the heartless being who just laughed at the gunslinger.

* * *

Even though his class had long since given up doing work and started chatting amongst themselves, even the teacher, Hope still remained focused on the screen. He was hoping for an update on the situation. The biggest question on his mind was 'what could be happening?' he quickly learned from the first time that Sephiroth was an unpredictable enemy.

Suddenly pain. Pain so great his fist clenched, his eyes slammed shut and his teeth were grinding together. He forced his eyes open and looked at the origin point of the pain. His left wrist. Exactly where the brand had been. What Hope saw next was unbelievable, the l'Cie brand reappeared. Fully developed and shining a bright angry red.

The pain in his body kept multiplying until he was shouting and crying from pain, and unable to move. After that the pain continued to increase until Hope was close to passing out. The platinum blond boy could hear Sephiroth laughing and feel the silver haired warriors piercing gaze in the back of his mind.


	15. Chapter 15

Smoke rose into the air forming massive black beacons that lead to death. The dust thrown off collapsing buildings and coated the environment, giving everything light gray color. The sounds of alarms, fires, screams of pain and the deep chuckle of the titanic being filled the air.

"Let them go!" Cloud shouted at Sephiroth, the amount of rage was obvious in his voice.

The six massive feathered wings of Sephiroth's lower half calmly pounded the air, keeping the giant afloat. The rate of the flapping wings was keeping a gentle breeze moving, but the screams of pain from the former l'Cie sliced through the calmness the same way a table saw cuts through bread.

"I told you to release them, you bastard!" Vincent shouted.

Cloud shot to his feet, his Fusion Blade in hand and a blue aura around him. He sprinted towards Sephiroth, launched off the ground ready to kill the most powerful being to ever live. Unsurprisingly to everyone, Cloud was thrown to the ground by a shield Sephiroth had erected around him, most likely the moment he transformed. However, Cloud was not about to give up; He launched several Blade Beams at Sephiroth, each one hitting the shield and dissipating.

Sephiroth looked down at Cloud as the blond tried and failed to breach his shield. Soon, he would emerge victorious over his enemy.

* * *

"Primarch Rosch, this is General Vorick. We have the target in our sights. What are your orders?" The voice of the squad commander sounded through the communicator.

The former commander of PSICOM was stunned by the footage of Bodhum. The once beautiful seaside city had been reduced to a burning pile of gray rubble. A video transmitter on the lead gunship showed the massive seven-winged being gently hovering with its arm out stretched, facing away from the gunship, its attention fully on something else.

"Sir? What are your orders?" The voice asked again, with a hint of panic this time.

Rosch took a breath to slow his pulse, calmly reached out and pressed the button to respond. He took another breath to calm himself and wet his lips before answering.

The captain of the gunship, Viper One, mumbled his acknowledgment of the order and turned to his gun crew. He looked each one directly in the eye before changing his communicators channel to open, in order to contact every squad leader currently in Bodhum.

"Orders from the Primarch, we don't leave until that thing is dead, or we run out of ammo. Fire at will."

As soon as the last word left the General's mouth, his gun crew locked onto the flying giant and launched all they could as they shouted their support.

"For Cocoon!"

* * *

Snow was moving as fast as he could with Serah, his wife in his arms. Gadot was behind him carrying the injured Lebreau, with Marqui and Yuj on his heels. The large man with the Mohawk nearly crashed into Snow when he suddenly stopped. Wanting to yell at him, Gadot saw that Snow was looking up at followed his gaze.

Guardian Corps, former PSICOM, and the Skyfleet were now over Bodhum. Fighters, Bombers, Gunships, Carriers, everything. Even the ground was littered with the military, Artillery guns, Tanks, Snipers, no soldier was left out. The sheer amount of forces made it look like a swarm of locusts had come to Bodhum.

A unanimous shout that instantly became incomprehensible sounded. Everything present had begun shooting. A cloud of smoke and the sound of an avalanche blanketed the area as shells and missiles took flight. It was a majestic sight, with a hint of tragedy. It looked like humanity's last stand, and sadly, it was. If the combined might of all the military forces on Cocoon could not destroy Sephiroth, all life would meet its end.

* * *

The sound of something screaming through the air caught everyone's attention. Cloud still had his sight locked on the chuckling maniac that turned himself into a seven winged Fal'Cie, but all the others looked up at the sound. Vincent was the one able to see what was about to happen, his senses enhanced by Mako, Jenova cells, and Chaos, allowed him to see the incoming artillery shells and the wall of missiles just a few seconds out.

"Hit the dirt!" Vincent shouted to everyone. Everyone crouched low and did their best to cover their heads.

The shells slammed into Sephiroth's shield, creating a deafening boom and a massive fireball. The shock wave cast off from the shells, threw even more dust into the air, a did not cause any visible damage to Sephiroth. However, Sephiroth had released the former l'Cie from his torturous grasp.

The multitude of missiles soon fell upon Sephiroth. Some missiles slammed into the ground near Sephiroth, but most hit his shield. The rapid explosions created a large wall of fire and a shock wave with enough force to make everyone stumble and fall from their crouching position.

After the fire and smoke cleared, all saw the shield around the winged being flicker out of existence. Sephiroth let out an enraged growl at the military forces that had just broken his shield, he was not expecting this kind of resistance. The gargantuan black wing of Sephiroth started to glow with a soft orange light, which steadily grew into a piercing white light with an orange tint at the edge. Just as Sephiroth swung his wing towards the massive military force, their fighters, bombers, and gunships scrambled and began their approach.

The pillar of light raced off the huge black feathered wing and split into countless orange-white beams. The beams started to explode mid-air, mimicking anti-air flak guns. Several fighters and bombers were hit and either exploded in the air or fell to the ground and detonated on impact, gunships were also hit but they were designed to take a beating and remain in the air under the worst circumstances.

Fighters zipped past Sephiroth, and Avalanche, without firing first to see if there was any prominent weak spots which were fairly obvious to military minds. The base of the wings and the orb protruding out of Sephiroth's middle. Pilots of the fighters relayed the information back to bomber pilots and gunship crews then circled back to give their all.

The fighters locked the targeting systems of their missiles onto the seven targets and let loose. With a push of a button, several missiles dropped from the belly of each, of the dozens, of fighters. The missiles flew their low yield, but very effective, explosive loads directly into Sephiroth's grotesque form. Sephiroth was consumed in small fireballs as more and more missiles slammed into him.

As the gunships drifted closer to Sephiroth, they released near countless missiles of their own. At the same time, the gunships began charging the main cannons knowing the combined fire would be enough to put down any enemy.

Suddenly, from the cloud of smoke Sephiroth flew out towards the gunships. As he raced towards them, his hands stretched out and large beams appeared, the same type of beam that had blasted a perfectly round hole in the ground a few minutes ago. The beams lanced through two gunships, both of which exploded shortly after, and swept through three other gunships in either direction, all six ceased to be when the beams made contact. All but one gunship broke formation and fled from Sephiroth to be safe.

* * *

General Vorick ordered his gunship crew to remain in position until they could fire the cannon. The General knew his crew was afraid to be in this position, and perfectly understood why the other gunships had fled. He watched the screen with the information about the main cannon indicate the charge of the cannon reached maximum.

"Target that orb," General Vorick ordered, indicating Sephiroth's core.

* * *

Sephiroth readied an attack to destroy the one gunship that had remained to fight him. The gunship with the word Viper and number one painted on the side. Before his attack could be sent at the gunship, the cannon flashed. The beam from the cannon slammed into the core orb of the massive grotesque form of Sephiroth and the group on the ground heard a cry. The gunship started to flee while Sephiroth was struggling to regain himself.

Sephiroth was throwing attack after attack at the gunship as it fled and managed to hit it twice, but it remained flying away. Other gunships began launching more missiles and firing thousands of bullets at the seven winged menace. Cloud watched from the ground as nearly ten thousand people willingly fought a being that could end their lives with a flick of a wrist.

Three gunships circled around the flying giant while charging their main cannons. A very loud bang sounded as the first cannon shot jumped through the air and slammed into Sephiroth's right hand, shattering it and leaving the arm ending in a gargantuan stump. The other fired at the upper torso of the false Fal'Cie, making it stumble through the air and struggle to remain upright.

More screaming in the air signaled another incoming artillery strike. The fact that any artillery guns or squads had survived the earlier bombardment was amazing on its own. The screaming shells plummeted out of the sky, slammed into Sephiroth and created a wall of fire and smoke.

Gunships that had fled earlier had charged their cannons and were flying back around to deliver the shot. Shot after short flew out of the cannons, ripped through the smoke and slammed into Sephiroth. Cloud, Lightning, and the others heard a kind of cry that Barthandelus made when they defeated him.

As the smoke cleared, the broken body of Sephiroth's giant form came into view. It was on the ground and completely still. All seven wings were stretched out on the ground covering almost as much ground as a landing strip.

"Is it over?" Vanille asked the group.

Out of the smoke, a black streak raced towards them. An instant later Sephiroth was holding Cloud a foot and a half off the ground, by the throat with his left hand. Sephiroth flapped his large black feathered wing and they both lifted into the air. The silver haired nightmare stretched out his right arm, which erupted into a large black leathery, wing-like limb. His arm suddenly changing made his coat disappear in a flurry of black dust and just after, Sephiroth's lower half changed into six white wings that were very similar to the much larger form. Finally a gold symbol materialized behind Sephiroth and completed the exact recreation of the form Avalanche had fought in the Northern Cave, Seraph Sephiroth.

**Sorry for the wait, I will try to have the next chapter up before Christmas at the latest. About three chapters left by the way.**

**I'm going to concentrate on this story until its finished, which means my other stories will take even longer to update.**

**Side note: General Vorick is just someone I made up for the sake of this chapter.**

**Random fact: Safer Sephiroth is a mistranslation of Seraph Sephiroth, which is why I used Seraph in the story.**

**Oh yea, please review. Please. Only three chapters left.**


	16. Chapter 16

Cloud felt his consciousness slipping away as his lungs received less and less air with each breath. Sephiroth had an iron grip on the blonds throat and the madness filled green piercing eyes never blinked as they watched the blond lose his life. Just before Cloud fell unconscious, his sword fell from his hand, and images flew through his mind.

Pictures of Nibleheim, that night on the water tower with Tifa, Nibleheim in flames, Zack's death. The deaths of Biggs, Wedge, Jesse, and everyone under and on the plate of Sector 7 of Midgar. Aerith's death, the summoning of Meteor, the deaths of countless people in Midgar's destruction, the outbreak of Geostigma. Next were just thoughts of what Lightning had told Cloud. The Purge of Bodhum, the disaster of a resistance in the Hanging Edge, all of Cocoon erupting in panic. Most recently, the utter destruction of Bodhum.

The one thing that hurt Cloud the most of all, even more than watching two of his close friends and far too many people die, was how Sephiroth had been able to manipulate all of them. That single thought made Cloud feel far more powerless than being strangled by his nemesis. Giving up hope was Cloud's final conscious thought.

The others stood and watched Cloud's sword fall to the ground. They knew Sephiroth was choking the life out of Cloud and they knew their blond leader was going to die soon if they did not take action. However, only Lightning had the same thought as Cloud. A tear rolled down Lightning's cheek as she let her false hope float away like a balloon.

A blue-green light erupted from Cloud's left arm without warning, removing all traces of the stigma from the blond which would go unnoticed for a time. A moment after, behind Sephiroth, a large robotic wolf quickly materialized out of thin air. Strange blue-green tendrils wove around each other and solidified into the wolf's rear half as it dove through the air. It grabbed onto the large gold symbol behind Sephiroth and sunk its steel teeth into the silver haired monstrosity's left shoulder. Sephiroth cried out and waved his wing like arm, sending out a shock wave that knocked the wolf and Cloud to the ground.

Lightning sprinted over to her unconscious fiance, the wolf leaped back at Sephiroth, and the group resumed attacking Sephiroth to the best of their abilities. Lightning quickly checked Cloud's pulse and began performing C.P.R. After the second round of chest compressions, Cloud's glowing blue eyes opened and Lightning helped him to his feet. In almost three seconds flat, Cloud had his sword in his hands again, but the moment Cloud retrieved the large weapon Sephiroth forced the robotic wolf into the air and sent a blade of energy at it. The air blade hit the wolf and dissipated. Landing on its feet, the wolf looked to Sephiroth and growled loudly.

Cloud and Lightning jumped at Sephiroth, renewed hope filling them both. With a quick swing of the large black wing arm, Cloud was thrown back and Lightning's sword was caught by Sephiroth's normal arm. The seven winged being twisted Blaze Edge out of Lightning's grasp and before she could blink, she was also flying downwards.

The large gold symbol behind Sephiroth glowed bright, then flashed. After the flash, everyone's feet left the ground as gravity started to abandon them. Without any ground beneath their feet, it would be impossible to fight the fake Seraph. Knowing that fact, Aerith used the Earth materia in the bracelet she always had stocked with materia.

The ground cracked and broke forming several large chunks that began rising, faster than the group. With some ground at their feet, everyone jumped to different pieces to ensure their safety through this battle. After they spread out, the ground stopped ascending and began to orbit around Sephiroth. With altered gravity, makeshift ground beneath their feet, and the enemy in the center of the fractured orb, the fight truly began.

Vincent, Sazh, Barret, Tifa, Aerith, Vanille, Nanaki and Yuffie used their weapons and materia to distract Sephiroth while Cloud, Lightning, Cid, Fang, and the wolf moved in close. The only flaw in this strategy was Sephiroth had this exact strategy used on him three previous times. He knew it as well as they did. The silver haired dark angel easily repelled every attack. The wolf ceased attacking which grabbed Cloud's attention.

The wolf glowed and pushed itself onto its hind legs. As the glow subsided in its place stood a tall, young, black haired man, wearing a black uniform that was identical to the one Cloud had worn for a long time. The young man placed his hands around a non-existent hilt and a moment later, the Buster Sword appeared in his hands. Only one word slipped though Cloud's lips at the sight.

"Zack?" the blond yelled out so his old friend could hear.

"No time to talk," The black haired man shouted back "Sephiroth!" The Seraph turned to look at Zack, who now looked ready to remove all seven wings "This ends here and now!"

Zack lunged towards Sephiroth with Cloud and Lightning following suit. The large black wing arm repelled the three warriors sending them back to the pieces of ground they jumped from. Zack landed on his feet, as did Lightning, but Cloud landed on his left shoulder and he felt it pop out of the socket.

The blond knew that there was no way he could fight with his sword while his shoulder was dislocated. So he sheathed the blade and resorted to his materia and made his way to the outermost layer of orbiting earth platforms.

Slowly Sephiroth once again worked his way through the group, defeating each person. He had succeeded in shattering Cid's spear but was unable to to defeat the middle aged pilot because Cid had fled immediately. Fang's lance had been launched out of the range of the altered gravity, same with Yuffie's shuriken. The bullets from Cerberus, Vincent's triple barreled revolver, had no visible effect on Sephiroth. Soon it came down to only Sephiroth and Zack, the others were being healed by Aerith and Vanille.

"So, it comes down to just me and the SOLDIER puppy," Sephiroth said with a sneer.

"I defeated both Genesis and Angeal, you're not going to be any more difficult," Zack said back with rage in his voice.

"Well if you have such confidence in your powers, kill me."

Zack jumped at Sephiroth and was blindsided by a chunk of earth twice his size. The force at which Zack was launched through three other chunks and away from the altered gravity. On the other hand, the Buster Sword was embedded in one of the chunks Zack had broken through. Moments later Zack was back on the earth platforms with the others.

Everyone looked over to Zack, who just gave a quick nod back. The SOLDIER's clothes had been torn in countless spots, his hair was messy and dirty, his lip was bleeding along with his nose and several cuts all over his body. Through many close together holes in his shirt, Lightning saw a mark similar to the pulse l'Cie brand, but much more complicated. She knew she had seen it before, two years ago, on the Fal'Cie Anima, the being that had cursed her. Lightning's eyes grew wide when she realized that this dark haired man, was a Fal'Cie and he was being beaten by Sephiroth.

Zack leaped over to the Buster Sword and ripped it out of the earth platform. A moment later, two large fireballs converged on him and violently exploded. Before the smoke cleared, Sephiroth sent six icicles the size of spears at Zack, they disappeared into the smoke and close behind them several bolts of lightning. When the smoke finally cleared, the sight of Zack severely burned and unable to stand was unsurprising.

The dark haired warrior looked 'up' at the group and extended his left arm. Lightning and Cloud felt power surge through their bodies, but only Lightning recognized the power. It was l'Cie power. Both warriors felt their fatigue vanish and the pain from their wounds fade. A very brief vision crossed their minds, a vision of the gold symbol behind Sephiroth shattering and the platforms falling to the ground; Cloud and Lightning had just received their focus.

"Lightning," Cloud said to get her attention.

The two warriors nodded to each other as the l'Cie power flooded through them. As the power grew in their veins the air around them began glow. A soft blue appeared around Cloud and his sword, and soft pink seeped into the air around Lightning and her sword. Cloud joined his right hand with Lightning's left and together they leaped towards Sephiroth.

"It's time to end this battle," Sephiroth said with blood lust as the two sword users flew towards him. The floating platforms of earth began to fall as Sephiroth stopped the power flow to them.

Cloud and Lightning let go of each others hand and threw their swords. Cloud's Fusion Blade split into the six individual swords and formed a circle with Blaze Edge and the Buster Sword, around Sephiroth. Surprise caught Sephiroth as each sword had a blue aura and held their position in the air. The blue and pink air around Cloud and Lightning intensified until it was visible from where the rest of the group stood. Cloud and Lightning vanished from their place in the air and appeared at opposite sides of the circle. Sephiroth glanced from side to side and looked genuinely worried.

Streaks of blue and pink raced through the air and passed through Sephiroth. After passing through Sephiroth, there was a ghost image of of Cloud and Lightning holding one of the many swords, facing the direction the color streaks traveled. Countless more times from every direction, the streaks of light passed through Sephiroth making the Seraph grunt and move sharply with each hit. Sephiroth's wings were being broken and shredded, cuts opened across his torso and arms, and the gold symbol was being dented and cracked.

To finish the attack, Cloud and Lightning appeared above Sephiroth their swords in hand, Blaze Edge and the base Fusion Blade. They both flew down at Sephiroth, blasted through him and shattered the gold symbol. They flipped over to land on their feet and looked up at the brutalized Seraph as Cloud's swords landed point down in the ground in a circle around them.

"Stay where you belong," Cloud sound loudly.

"In our memories," Lightning finished for Cloud.

"And don't you dare come back!" Zack, who was using the Buster Sword as a crutch, shouted.

Beams of light erupted from Seraph Sephiroth shortly before he exploded into a large cloud of the dusty-smoke that was Sephiroth's signature. Cloud turned to Lightning and looked into her ice-blue eyes for moment, before her hand flew across Cloud's cheek making a loud slap noise and leaving a red handprint.

"That's for leaving," Lightning said with a glare. She could hear a couple of others snickering at the slap.

"I deserve that," Cloud said with an apologetic tone as a different thought came to the front of his mind "Zack," he said, turning to the dark haired warrior.

"To save time, I was made a Fal'Cie by Pulse so I could make you a l'Cie so you could kill Sephiroth. That also explains how I'm here standing, well mostly standing, in front of you," Zack explained.

"Guys," Everyone turned at the young voice. A young man with silver hair and a black leather outfit stood behind them with no weapon in his hands.

"Kadaj?" Vanille said quietly. Vincent pointed Cerberus at the young man.

"Hey, wait," Kadaj said quickly as he put his hands in the air "Listen, I was being controlled by ..." Kadaj looked past the group and his expression went from fear to disbelief which made the entire group spin back around. The sight was truly stunning.

Once again, Sephiroth was standing in front of them, but there were many differences. There were cuts all over his body ranging from minor scrapes to major slashes, no dusty-smoke was rising from the wounds like usual but actual blood. His breathing was labored, coughing was constant along with blood spattering with every cough. The large black wing was broken, tattered and laying on the ground. The Masamune was in his hand but it was shaking due to Sephiroth trembling.

"Goddammit! Do you ever give up?" Cid shouted.

"I will _never_ be a memory," Sephiroth shouted, intense rage in his voice "I had power that made Fal'Cie look like insects. So how could mere humans beat me?" Sephiroth started stumbling towards the group, dropping the Masamune after two steps "I killed thousands with my sword and thousands more with with meteor and my plague. But how did you people survive?" Sephiroth fell on to his hands and knees and vomited up a torrent of blood. He climbed back to his feet and continued stumbling towards to the group "If I am going to die here," a coughing fit overcame Sephiroth and his wing started to glow and lift into the air "You will all burn in Hell with me!"

Kadaj sprinted through the group, grabbed Lightning's knife and flipped it open. He ran straight up to Sephiroth used the well maintained knife to slice open the nightmares throat and used both hands to push the knife into his heart. Sephiroth's wing flapped violently as his life was slipping away, but it was still glowing brightly.

* * *

Snow stood with Serah as they looked towards where the battle was taking place. Gadot, Yuj, and Maqui stood watching as well, but they were fifteen feet away from the couple. Lebreau was in the care of field medics and the entire military was standing by in case a threat presented itself.

"Do you think they're okay?" Serah asked Snow as she held onto his hands. Snow looked down at his wife before speaking with a smile.

"They're fine. There is nothing Cloud and Lightning can't handle," As Snow looked back towards the battle sight a bright light filled the horizon and was quickly followed by the deafening sound of an explosion.

"Lightning," Serah nearly whispered as a tear escaped her eye.

**So sorry about how long this took. I know i said Christmas at the latest but I've had the worst writers block of my life, had a job for a bit, and some other stuff.**

**I already have most of the final chapter typed, on the bright side. So a week more at the longest, I promise.**

**Please leave a Review.**


	17. Chapter 17

A young boy wandered through the museum's 'Shinra' wing until he found the display case he and many others could not believe had been added that very day. Even though there was a moderate crowd in front of it, he still waved to his dad to follow him. When they pushed through to the front of the crowd, with many people complaining, he turned to his father.

"I told you it wasn't a hoax," the blue eyed boy stated.

"So you did," his father asked quietly.

They both looked at the large bullet proof glass case that held artifacts that had been impossible to retrieve for many centuries. The seven foot long Masamune, with every chip, scratch, and sign of constant use on the handle. The white steel pauldrons, scratched and dented from countless hits. The long black coat, with a large oval hole punched in the back, where the wing sprouted from. Lastly, one pristine massive black feather that was far too large for any bird including chocobos.

The screen on a near by wall flickered to life a few minutes before the scheduled, and heavily publicized, event hosted by Primarch Yaag Rosch. The boy and his father drifted towards the screen, as did many other museum goers.

* * *

Rosch read over the notes for his speech but could not focus on them. He was still in shock over what he was about to say to every citizen of the two worlds. After all, he had looked up to Avalanche growing up, along side most of the populace, and the few former l'Cie that had freed Cocoon from being destroyed by a rogue Fal'Cie.

The door opened and his assistant walked in. Finally it was time for the event.

"Primarch Rosch? We are ready for you." The Primarch nodded his confirmation to his assistant. He still could not believe it had only been six days since that battle in Bodhum. Only six days since nearly four thousand gave their lives to protect Cocoon, and many more were taken in the city's destruction. But this was what Cocoon needed more than ever.

As Primarch Yaag Rosch, former commander of PSICOM, stepped out onto the stage and headed for the center he looked out to the crowd of reporters, cameras, and citizens, crammed into the large arena like area of Palumpolum and felt nauseous. The sight of the entire arena like area filled to capacity, with the exception of fenced off aisle leading out, was a truly stunning sight. When he reached the center of the stage, some aerial cameras flew in closer, and a tide of flashes rolled by. The thought of his voice booming over the crowd from speakers and his form on the jumbo screens, made him feel small. He settled his nerves, took a few deep breaths, wet his lips and began his speech.

"Almost five and a half centuries ago, the once legendary hero, Sephiroth went rogue and tried to destroy Pulse. The team Avalanche, lead by Cloud Strife, rose up against the Shinra Corporation in order to fight Sephiroth and stop Meteor. Several years later, the Geostigma plague erupted throughout the world and caused the War of Transgression. After moving the population to Meteor, Cocoon, Shinra founded the Sanctum, PSICOM, and the Guardian Corps. Two years ago, a small group of six were made l'Cie and they lost everything. However, they refused to give up and refused to destroy Cocoon, with the help of Avalanche, who were crystallized by Holy after their battle with Sephiroth, they were successful in completing their focus and keeping Cocoon safe."

Rosch let the unpublished information sink into the crowd so he could take a few breaths.

"Six days ago, Bodhum was completely destroyed. Not by an earthquake, tsunami, or rogue Fal'Cie like Barthandelus. Compelling evidence, such as the mysterious transmission, proves that Sephiroth, the One Winged Angel, returned and leveled the city. I don't know how he returned and it is unlikely that we will ever find out, but it was him and many heroes gave their lives to end his. It has been decided that Bodhum will not be rebuilt. The construction project on the town of Kalm, will be named New Bodhum. Every survivor of the battle of Bodhum will be the first residents of New Bodhum and every new home will be paid for by the Sanctum. The wreckage of Bodhum will be cleared and a memorial for those who lost their lives will be erected and the broken form of the giant Sephiroth will be moved and repaired, as it will stand as a monument to our past mistakes. No more will we bend to the will of a select few beings, be it Fal'Cie, terrorists, or even the Sanctum. No more will the truth be ignored when it is right in front of us. No more will false stories influence our decisions."

Cheers echoed through the crowd and Rosch could see many people crying as he spoke of the brave soldiers that had died in Bodhum.

"However, today is not a day for tears. On this day, we are finally free from the grasp of beings far beyond the realm of human. On this day, our new lives truly begin. Today we shall officially honor the heroes that helped save us all from several tyrants," Rosch extended his right arm "Avalanche, the group we grew up learning about,"

As the Primarch spoke a large curtain slid sideways revealing Cloud, bandages covering most of his body. Tifa, with her right hand in a cast. Barret, with a lot of bandages. Aerith, with a few cuts and bruises. Zack, on a crutch, keeping his Fal'Cie powers secret. Yuffie, the same as Aerith. Vincent, the only member who was uninjured. Cid, his right arm in a sling and left foot in a brace. And Nanaki, with bandages around his middle. Applause erupted through the crowd. The Primarch extended his left arm when the applause started to die.

"The group NORA, who helped citizens throughout the tragedy of the Purge and the former l'Cie who saved us from the corrupt Fal'Cie."

The large curtain to the Primarch's left slid sideways to reveal Lightning, bandages covering most of her body. Snow, unscathed because of his absence from the fight with Sephiroth. Serah, completely unscathed because of Snow. Sazh with Dajh beside him, and minimal bandaging. Hope, who was in Palumpolum at the time of the battle. Fang, with two fingers on her left hand in a splint and a knee brace on her right leg. Vanille, with many cuts and bandages but not as much as some of the others. Then Lebreau with bandages around her hips for the severe burns on her right hip. Finally, Gadot, Yuj, and Maqui who had been with Snow and remained uninjured. Each member of both groups was wearing the clothes they were most known for.

"Each one of these brave souls will be awarded every honor that can be bestowed by the Guardian Corps. But that is not nearly as much as they deserve. What they want is a simple request that we should allow, all these heroes want is to live their lives in peace with those they love. And on that note, let us begin the one event that will be remembered forever."

After the Primarch spoke, Cloud and Lightning walked forward until they were in front of Rosch and turned to each other. They joined hands with each other and the Primarch pushed a hidden button is his palm to turn off his microphone, so he could share a few private words.

"Thank you for choosing to do this. This will definitely raise the morale of the citizens. Also this is the first time I've ever done this so bear with me," absolute silence fell over the crowd as they figured out what was happening, Rosch pushed the hidden button again to reactivate his microphone "Cloud Strife, you defeated Sephiroth and saved Gran Pulse more than five hundred years ago. Lightning Farron, you defeated Barthandelus and saved Cocoon only two years ago. Together you two killed Sephiroth six days ago and ensured that the citizens of Cocoon could live long happy lives. Today, the two of you will begin a new journey, one that will last the remainder of your lives, bring you ever closer and will bring challenges far different than what you have faced in the past."

Rosch paused, seemingly for dramatic effect but in truth, he was frantically searching his mind for the information he had been trying to memorize for three days prior. After two deep breaths, the information surfaced and Rosch continued.

"We are gathered here to celebrate these two history changing heroes, who met under the most extraordinary circumstances, uniting in marriage. It is one of life's richest surprises when the accidental meeting of two life paths lead them to proceed together along the common path as husband and wife. It is one of life's finest experiences when a casual relationship grows into a permanent bond of love."

Vincent, Tifa, Snow and Fang, stifled a laugh or chuckle at the Primarch's words. Only those four knew what really happened when Lightning and Cloud first met.

"Lightning Farron and Cloud Strife, will you take vows here before all of us which symbolize the manifested vows you have already made and will continue to make to each other throughout your lives?"

"We will," Cloud and Lightning answered together, their voices magnified by Rosch's microphone.

"I promise you Claire Farron," Cloud started, he knew Lightning wasn't happy about him using her real name with all of Cocoon watching "That I will be your loving and loyal husband from now on. I will share with you all of life's joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, until death parts us."

"I promise you Cloud Strife," Lightning started, she felt embarrassed that she was so close to crying from happiness "That I will be your loving and loyal wife from now on. I will share with you all of life's joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, until death parts us."

After reciting their vows Lightning and Cloud placed matching rings on each others left ring finger. As they exchanged rings Rosch continued speaking.

"As a ceaseless reminder of this hour, and of the promise you have made to each other, these rings also speak of the oneness you now experience as husband and wife. Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter to the other. Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth to the other. Now you will feel no loneliness, for each of you will be a companion to the other. Now you are two bodies, but there is only one life before you. Go now to your dwelling place, to enter the days of your life together. And may your days be good, and long upon Gran Pulse and Cocoon.

Because they have so affirmed, in love and knowledge of the other, so also do I declare that Cloud Strife and," Lightning threw a quick look at Rosch "Lightning Farron are now husband and wife."

The two warriors stepped into each others embrace and shared their first kiss as husband and wife. Wild cheering and applause erupted through the crowd and some cheers came from the two groups. The two groups closed around the new couple and the Primarch for the of pictures, and they all knew it was going to be a long time before they could leave.

**Two Days later, The Highwind**

Avalanche and the former l'Cie stood on the the flight deck watching the land of Gran Pulse slowly roll by. Each couple was standing on their own leaving all the single members to congregate.

"So Kadaj, how did Loz and Yazoo survive getting shot by Vincent?" Vanille asked the silver haired Oerban.

"Well with how much power Sephiroth gave each of us, we can probably die two or three times each," Kadaj replied with a shrug.

"But can't Sephiroth use one of you to come back?" Vanille asked with genuine worry.

"If he could, wouldn't he have already done that?" Kadaj retorted. Vanille just nodded to agree with him.

At the same time as Vanille's discussion with Kadaj.

"So are you ever going to explain what Sephiroth said about Ragnarok preventing him from using me?" Fang asked Vincent, her tone was hiding the knives Vincent could feel at his throat.

"I am using the Protomateria, a materia Lucrecia gave me to control Chaos. So I am using it to keep Ragnarok under control as well. I did not combine Ragnarok with you, I am keeping it dormant," Vincent explained.

"Well take Ragnarok and shove it back where it came from," Vincent could tell that Fang was having a hard time controlling her tone.

"I would if I could. But on the bright side, we are nearly invincible. Not to mention near immortal as well," Fang threw him a questioning look "I haven't aged a day since I became a host for Chaos."

"Huh," Fang muttered "Immortality. Not sure what I think of that."

"Neither am I," Vincent replied with a thoughtful tone.

Silence fell over the group as the Highwind drifted over New Bodhum. The massive construction project was going well.

"Oh, Cloud!" Zack shouted across the deck. Zack, who had fully healed himself and the others an hour before they got on the Highwind, walked across the deck to blond with spiky hair "Here is my wedding gift to you," Zack held out his hand and blue gem appeared. It was slightly larger than a materia and it had the same shape as the steel wolf head Cloud wore on his leather pauldron.

"What's this?" Cloud asked. Lightning knew it was an Eidolon crystal, but Zack spoke first.

"Fenrir. Your Eidolon. I chose him for you and I designed my Fal'Cie form after him," Zack forced the crystal into Cloud's hand "Go ahead and summon him, he is quite friendly."

Cloud squeezed the crystal until it broke and vanished. Large symbols appeared in the air and spread out and away from Cloud. A large black robotic wolf, with some gold plating, leaped out of the largest symbol and landed in the middle of the sky deck. Everyone turned to look at the wolf that had suddenly appeared. The wolf looked around at all the people standing around it.

"Tell it to go into Gestalt form," Zack said to Cloud. Cloud just shrugged in response.

"Fenrir, Gestalt form," Cloud commanded.

The wolf jumped up off the deck and quickly transformed. The wolf was now a large black and gold motorbike, type vehicle. Two wing-like flaps opened and several small sheath like arms jutted out. Zack grabbed Cloud's and Lightning's sword and slid them into two of the sheaths and the wings closed. Lightning and Cloud just stared at the huge motorcycle for a few moments, along with everyone other than Zack and Aerith.

"Well, take him out for a spin," Zack said to Cloud and Lightning "Oh, since its an Eidolon, no fuel is required and it will go very fast. And that engine will roar."

Cloud climbed onto the the bike, Lightning climbed on behind him and wrapped her arms around Cloud's middle. Cloud revved the engine and drove it off the the sky deck, when the bike landed, it shot across the ground. The others watched as Cloud and Lightning drove off into the New Bodhum construction site.

" Damn kids and their new toys," Cid said to earn a laugh.

* * *

"_There is no hate, only joy. For you are beloved by the goddess. Hero of the dawn, healer of worlds._" a man in red armor quoted as he watched the two warriors speed off into the distance "Rest well guardians of Gran Pulse. You have emerged victorious from this battle," With a wave of his hand, the summoned image blew away like mist. The man looked out towards the water, away from the city and drew his red bladed sword "But a war is on its way."

**And so ends Remnants of the Past. Please send a thank you to Devil Hunter Kira F Sparda, without his help and idea's chapters 16 and 17 would have yet to be written.**

**Concerning chapter 16, I may go back and rewrite it to extend the fight scene.**

**As always, please leave a Review.**

* * *

**The story continues in 'The Kalm Before the Storm' a cooperative effort between Devil Hunter Kira F Sparda and myself. It is published under his name, so give it a read and leave a Review on it.**


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